“There’s not a lot out there, and they seem to be going up. Fifteen, seventeen, nineteen hundred dollars for a one-bedroom,” he said. “Our price range is disappearing.” Armstrong described the situation as frustrating and costly. The couple couldn’t even prepare their own meals at the motel. “It’s very, very difficult,” he said. “Difficult cooking as we are not allowed to have our own cooking equipment. No toaster oven, that is against the fire code.” The couple say they faced denial after denial, losing out on dozens of apartments amid stiff competition during their 16-month search for permanent housing. Rents are indeed rising rapidly in the region, according to a recent report by Rentals.ca and Bullpen Research and Consulting. Average apartment rent for nearest major city — London, Ont. — climbed to $1,933 in June, up 28.5 percent from the same period last year. WATCHES | How Canadians are priced to rent homes:
Rising rents are taking their toll on some Canadians
Some Canadians are finding themselves increasingly expensive as the cost of rent soars across the country.
Some analysts predict the rental market could get even hotter across Canada.
Ben Myers, president of Bullpen Research & Consulting, a real estate consulting firm, says higher interest rates are pushing potential homebuyers to the sidelines, putting more pressure on the rental market.
“These two factors will keep renters in their properties, further reducing rental supply,” Myers said.
Rental provision was also an ongoing issue in Halifax. There, the vacancy rate is less than one per cent, among the lowest in the country, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
“We have new construction and existing construction, but they can’t keep up with the pace of the number of people looking for rental units,” said Lesley Dunn, program director for RentersEd, which educates Canadians about renting.
Rental prices are rising across Canada
He says lower-income households are being priced out quickly as rents are rising faster than people’s wages. Dunn says the rental market is so hot it’s putting unfair pressure on applicants. “Now you’re being asked to pay three months’ rent before you’re even considered for an apartment. That’s devastating,” Dunn said. “For most newcomers, for most young people, for most people who are homeless, for most people who are on a fixed income, there is absolutely no way they can afford it.” The market is tight for renters in the bigger cities as well, as they are the most expensive. The highest average apartment rents in Canada are in Vancouver, at $2,936 a month, nearly 25 percent higher than a year ago, according to Rentals.ca. In Toronto, the average for apartments is $2,463 a month, up nearly 20 percent year over year. Experts have pointed to a decades-long decline in residential buildings intended specifically for rent, known as rent-to-own, as another reason for the supply issues. Murtaza Haider, a professor of management at the Metropolitan University of Toronto, says that purpose-built rentals provide more rental stability than condominiums, where investment-focused owners are more likely to take their properties off the rental market to sell whenever they want. feel it’s time. correctly. “The purpose-built rentals provide the security of tenure because you know it’s a rental property and it’s going to stay as a rental for them for the time being,” he said.
“Government has a big role to play”
Hyder wants all levels of government to work together to encourage more construction. “Government has a big role to play. They can incentivize developers in this market by changing the playing field … in favor of building more rental housing,” he said. “The push is on us not to wait another 50 years or even five years and start making these changes.” After 16 months, Armstrong says he and his wife finally found a place to call home. Nathan Armstrong and his wife lived in a motel in Woodstock, Ont., for more than a year because they couldn’t find an affordable apartment. (Rob Krbavac/CBC) “It’s amazing. A kitchen to cook in to save money on food costs, especially now with the price of everything going up,” he said. He hopes to improve the rental market for others just starting their search. “It should never have taken a year to finally find a permanent home,” he said.
