(C) Common Dreams
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Greedy landlords make moving within Toronto too expensive [1]
['Ricardo Tranjan']
Date: 2023-02-05
New data on Canada’s rental market confirms what Toronto tenants already knew: moving to a new place means spending more on rent. The data also clearly points to the culprit: landlords who hike rents by an average of 29 per cent between tenancies, consistently driving up rents and making the city unaffordable for working families.
We have the evidence. But do we have the courage to talk about the real problem – greedy landlords – or will we continue to blame allegedly uncontrollable market forces?
The data released recently by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), shows that, in 2022, average asking rents for vacant two-bedroom units in Toronto were $400 higher than rent paid in occupied units, putting the cost of moving at $4,800 a year in additional rent.
Moving to a larger unit to make room for more family members is even more costly: $8,000 a year, on average, for going from a one-bedroom to a two-bedroom unit, and nearly $16,000 a year, on average, for upgrading from a two-bedroom to a unit with three or more bedrooms.
For those hoping to save money, downsizing from a two-bedroom to a one-bedroom unit may not cost more but it won’t cost less. Rent costs are likely to remain about the same.
Leaving Toronto for other parts of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) won’t lead to savings either. The average rent for vacant two-bedroom units in the city’s outskirts is $240 more than for occupied units of the same size within city limits. For most people, $2,880 a year is not pocket change.
While the CMHC data is new, these findings are not surprising. They echo the stories we hear every day about tenants feeling that their only option is staying put.
The freedom to move is one of the many underrated benefits of renting, but not when the price tag of moving is this high. For tenants who have no desire to move, evictions and other forced displacements are even more life-wrecking when they can’t afford another place in their own neighbourhood.
The obvious and pressing question is, whose fault is this?
The CMHC report accompanying the data release explains it is a tight rental market. With the end of pandemic restrictions, youth can again find employment and move out on their own. Immigration has resumed, adding more people to the city. With the high and growing cost of buying a home, prospective first-time buyers are deciding to rent for longer. The report states that a lot of new units came into the market recently, but not enough to accommodate these demand pressures.
This supply-and-demand explanation is the most common story line following the release of the CMHC’s annual report. Many news headlines in recent days have focused on low vacancy rates, the commonly watched-for sign of demand pressures.
This explanation is not incorrect, but it does not tell the whole story either.
What about the data showing that rent increases in units that turned over to a new tenant were much higher than average rent increases? In Toronto, they were the highest in the country: 29 per cent, compared to a 2.3 per cent average rent increase in occupied units, most of which are rent controlled. Why are we not talking more about this?
How is it that lettuce selling for $5.99 is national news but landlords hiking up rents by 29 per cent in broad daylight is a passing comment in news stories about housing affordability?
Landlords take advantage of market conditions to push rent unjustifiably high, making life in Toronto unbearably unaffordable for families who rent.
They do it because they can. Because they want that additional profit. And because politicians let them.
We used to have rent controls on vacant units in this province, but we don’t anymore. And that’s a political choice.
From now on, let’s tell it like it is: Rents don’t “go up.” Landlords raise them.
Ricardo Tranjan is a senior researcher with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’ Ontario office and author of the “The Tenant Class.” @ricardo_tranjan
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[1] Url:
https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2023/02/05/greedy-landlords-make-moving-within-toronto-too-expensive.html
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