Stuck. Many Torontonians say they're clinging to affordable rental units and fearing what comes next
Loose rent regulations have left many clinging to the units they can afford, according to one expert
Hannah Hadfield and her partner have a comfortable two-bedroom apartment in Toronto's west end with relatively affordable rent. But like many renters in the city, she doesn't know what she'd do if they lost it.
Her landlords are fantastic, but getting older. Meanwhile she and her partner are at the point in their lives where they have an eye to the future, potentially starting a family and looking for somewhere with a bit more space.
But in Toronto's current rental market, the prospect of finding another place to live is a cause for concern.
"If the market was normal, [losing our apartment] would be unfortunate but fine. We would go out and we would just get another two-bedroom apartment," she said.
"But going out into the market right now is truly terrifying. Like, I don't know where we would end up or what kind of apartment we would end up in."
CBC Toronto has asked you to tell us about your rental experience. So far, hundreds have responded to our callout, with many saying they can afford their unit but are worried about losing it or finding somewhere better.
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Some respondents told us they feel stuck, while others are worried about the future they envisioned for themselves and family.
That creates a number of challenges, from rentals that should be entry-level not opening up to many existing in a state of housing anxiety. One expert also says the issue takes away some of the things that have traditionally been a positive of renting housing, like the flexibility to move closer to jobs or daycare services.
Teenagers to expecting couples are worried about moving out
Kathrin Jassmann has an apartment near High Park and said she can't afford more rent than she's paying now.
"It's just depressing because I have a really decent job, I make a six-figure income and I'm scraping by and I can't afford a house or an apartment or a condo," she said.
Ideally, Jassmann wants to leave the city for somewhere smaller. But she's finding rental markets outside the city are no better and ownership is unattainable.
Jim Quick and his wife recently moved into a new place after their previous building was sold. The apartment is slightly smaller than where they were before but has two bedrooms, which will accommodate their baby on the way.
But the idea of owning feels far away.
"Between the two of us, we're making about $170,000 and the idea of having a home, like our own place, is unattainable," he said, especially with his wife soon to be on maternity leave.
"It's very frustrating. I feel like the goalposts keep getting moved further and further away from us," he said.
George Freeland-Haynes is 16 years old and shares a basement apartment with his mother where he's lived since he was a couple months old. They pay about $1,300 for a one bedroom and learned last summer they may need to move out — something that has since been delayed.
If they had to move out, Freeland-Haynes said they're privileged in the sense that they'd be able to stay with family, but finding another apartment in the area wouldn't be possible.
"The idea that I was going to be spending the first four months of [school] without necessarily a place that, a home that was mine, was admittedly scary."
Issue is not a new one for some: expert
Nemoy Lewis, an assistant professor at the School of Urban and Regional Planning at Toronto Metropolitan University, said this issue is not a new one for some communities.
"Housing precarity and insecurity has been very much prevalent in a lot of racialized and economically disenfranchised communities," he said. "More recently, even as a result of the pandemic, housing precarity has landed on the doorstep of a lot of households that historically never experienced housing precarity."
He agrees with the argument that more housing supply is needed.
"But I think we need to be building supply that Canadians can actually afford," he said. "A big problem is that the housing that's actually being built right now is vastly unaffordable."
Ricardo Tranjan, a senior researcher at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, said the weakening of rent regulation in Ontario is what's led to people feeling like they can't afford to move.
He pointed to rent control only applying to buildings first occupied before Nov. 15, 2018 and a lack of rent control on vacant units.
"So you create a huge, huge difference between what is being paid in occupied units and what is being paid in vacant and non-controlled units," he said.
He said regulatory measures like rent control for occupied and vacant units is needed.
Geordie Dent, the executive director of the Federation of Metro Tenants' Association, says strengthening tenant's rights could also help.
"If there were easier, quicker ways that tenants can get justice, if there were strong penalties for landlords that actually broke the law, again, people wouldn't feel so stuck."
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