Regina council members want action on abandoned, burnt-out, boarded-up houses

The city's executive committee is recommending changes to deal with the numerous fire-damaged and abandoned houses that the mayor calls "a blight" on neighbourhoods.

Empty, dilapidated housing can lead to recurring neighbourhood issues including squatting, large gatherings, arson and other crimes, according to a report by city staff.

Executive committee — which is council in committee form — spent several hours debating the issue on Wednesday.

"I think our boarded up and abandoned homes and properties are blights on neighbourhoods," Mayor Sandra Masters said following the meeting.

"It was good news to hear that, you know, there have been a number that have been demolished. We need to do more clearly with the list, well over 100."

The proposed changes are in line with the city's community safety and well-being plan, the report says.

Improvements to bylaw enforcement

The main thrust of the report is the need for stronger and faster bylaw enforcement. The city wants to bring in fines for unsecured buildings — which includes empty houses with broken doors and windows — starting at $1,500 for the first offence. 

Our boarded-up and abandoned homes and properties are blights on neighbourhoods.- Regina Mayor Sandra Masters

In some cases, the city is looking to limit appeals of cleanup orders to accelerate the process.

"Removing the right to appeal will enable the bylaw enforcement branch to deal with those situations much more efficiently, meaning we don't have to wait that 15 days to issue an order, to wait those 15 days, to then go board up that structure and hope they then don't file an appeal," Andrea McNeil-Wilson, the manager of bylaw enforcement, told Wednesday's meeting.

Instead, with the proposed bylaw amendments in place, the city would be able to secure the structure the same day.

The report highlights five priority areas that contribute to neighbourhood issues:

• Unsecured structures: when exterior doors, windows or other exterior openings of an unoccupied building are damaged, broken or otherwise in a state of disrepair.
• Fire damaged structures: including structural damage and esthetic issues.
• Boarded up structures: some Regina property owners choose to board up their properties to prevent illegal entry, vandalism and squatting.
• Abandoned properties: specific criteria must be met for a property to be considered abandoned, most importantly outstanding property taxes.
• Repeat offenders: those who have multiple violations at a single property, multiple violations at more than one property, or a combination of the two.

Hundreds of houses have problems

An inventory of boarded-up houses was conducted in Regina in July 2021. It found 129 houses boarded up in the North Central neighbourhood alone.

Since March 2021, 270 abandoned houses have been investigated. Around 175 unsecured structures are estimated to exist per year.

There are currently 10 open cases for fire-damaged properties.

Masters says fixing the problems isn't going to happen overnight.

"We have a lot of work to do," she said. "Cleaning up these neighbourhoods … is of significant importance to council. We need these neighbourhoods to be safe and attractive places to live and to walk about and to enjoy."

Stepping up enforcement could be expensive

One proposed solution would be to hire more bylaw enforcement officers.

However, city staff are currently not recommending that. According to the city, hiring three more officers would cost $360,000 a year.

Since March 2021, a total of 21 properties have been demolished in Regina. Of those, seven were demolished by the property owners and 14 by the city. These properties were brought to the attention of the city due to poor physical condition.

The cost of demolition ranges from $8,000 to $31,500 for a house.

Taxation examined as a possibility

The city's executive committee has also agreed to look into whether taxing the owners of abandoned houses and vacant properties would be a good idea.

All the recommendations will go to a future city council meeting for a final decision.