Windsor's rental housing licensing program starts now. Here's what you need to know

A rental licensing program aimed at protecting tenants is launching in Windsor this week.

As of Monday, landlords in Wards 1 and 2 whoown properties with four or fewer apartment units will have to apply to receive a licence from the city for each unit.

Wards 1 and 2 are located in the west end of the city where much of the city's student rentals are located.

Landlords must show that their units meet standardsset out in the building,fire and electricalcodes.

The licence cost is set at$466initially, and $275 for renewal. Applications are due by the end of May.

The city says that bylaw enforcement officers will do education and outreach before the application deadline but starting on June 1, they will start enforcing the bylaw.

Council voted to start this pilot in April. It's slated to run fortwo years before it decides its next steps.

At the time, some landlords spoke out against the proposal, saying that they wouldhaveto pay the fee regardless of whether they were good landlords or not, and argued that the fees could just be passed down to tenants.

The executive director ofLegal Assistance of Windsorspoke in supportthe project sayingthat there is a "shocking" level substandard housing in the city, and a large backlog at the Landlord andTenant board.