London tenants call paid parking for visitors a 'money grab'

Some London renters say a new policy by their landlord to charge visitors for parking amounts to a corporate cash grab.

“Property management lives somewhere, and they have family and friends, and do they charge their family and friends six dollars to come over and visit them?” questioned tenant Lawrence, who did not want his last name used.

Lawrence lives at White Oaks Gate Apartments at Jalna Boulevard and Bradley Avenue, which is operated by Homestead Land Holdings.

He and other tenants are upset the property owner is putting new visitor parking rates in place.

The rates are $1.50 per half hour, $6.00 for 12 hours, or $12.00 for 24 hours. Parking will be enforced by contractor Target Park.

“I understand that they want to stop people from parking illegally and filling up spots, but to punish everybody is a little ridiculous,” said Lawrence.

New parking rates at White Oaks Gate Apartments, seen on Sept. 26, 2024, take effect Oct 1. (Bryan Bicknell/CTV News London)

Tenant Michael Ronholm didn’t mince words about how he feels about the new paid parking for visitors policy.

“Me personally, I think it’s just a money grab. When you got family coming over, how are they going to pay for parking? If they’re on a low budget they’re never going to afford,” he said.

Ronholm predicted that visitors will begin parking on nearby side-streets, upsetting neighbours.

Renters advocacy group ACORN says it has been fighting this issue in London for about six years now. Spokesperson Jordan Smith said tenants have recourse, but fighting it alone is a David versus Goliath type battle.

“The challenge is that it’s on them to file a T3 through the landlord tenant board,” Smith explained. “It’s likely that your neighbours are going through the same thing, and your best chance to fight against this is to organize with your neighbours, either through an organization like ACORN, or your own tenants’ union, and collectively file a T3, because you do have a fight ahead of you.”

New parking rates at White Oaks Gate Apartments, seen on Sept. 26, 2024, take effect Oct 1. (Bryan Bicknell/CTV News London)

Homestead Land Holdings would not agree to an interview with CTV News, but did send the following statement, attributed to Chief Operating Officer Mike Terkalas:

“After careful consideration, Homestead has recently introduced a paid visitor parking program at certain properties in London. This is being done as a result of regular feedback from residents about visitor parking being misused/abused by unauthorized vehicles, leaving limited space for actual guests. This program aims to ensure the effective enforcement of visitor parking policies, thereby assisting in ensuring the availability of parking spaces for guests of residents. We recognize that this program may affect our residents differently, therefore should residents have questions, we encourage them to contact their Property Manager who will be more than happy to assist them.”

Tenant Ron Pilkington agrees that misuse of parking spots has taken place, but he says that’s because the existing parking rules were never enforced.

“Didn’t have to come to this, no way,” exclaimed Pilkington. “They needed to enforce and do their due diligence on who’s breaking the rules and who isn’t. There’s people who buy one parking spot, and park two other cars,” he said.

The new visitor parking policy takes effect Oct.1.