Rental demand to boost further apartment construction – CMHC
Ever-increasing prices in Canada’s hottest residential markets will trigger accelerated demand for rental space – in turn driving near-future growth in apartment construction, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. In its Fall 2018 Housing Market Outlook, the Crown corporation stated that this would be especially evident in Ontario and Atlantic Canada. “Single-family existing home sales and starts will post a partial recovery in 2019 as better than expected job growth and...
read moreShort-term rental rules eyed
Sarnia is considering beefing up regulations for short-term rentals, amid a situation one councillor says is eating into local long-term housing supply and disrupting neighbourhoods. Sarnia is considering beefing up regulations for short-term rentals amid a situation one councillor says is eating into the local long-term housing supply and disrupting neighbourhoods. “A lot of communities have jumped on this issue, and they recognize it as a massive problem,” said Coun. Bill Dennis. Locally, he...
read moreRent increase guideline for 2020
The rent increase guideline is 2.2% for increases between January 1 and December 31, 2020. Who it applies to The guideline applies to most private residential rental units covered by the Residential Tenancies Act. The guideline does not apply to: vacant residential units social housing units nursing homes commercial properties This guideline also does not apply to new buildings, additions to existing buildings and most new basement apartments that are occupied for the first time for...
read moreIn Edmonton Centre, affordable housing can be hard to find
Nearly 20 percent of renters spend half —or more —of their income on rent. Maryam Ali lives in Edmonton’s North Glenora neighbourhood with her three kids and her young nephew. Housing prices would put the mature, central community out of reach for the single mother if she had to pay market rent. But 2½ years ago, she moved into an affordable housing development built by a non-profit group on land owned by a church. Ali now pays rent that she can afford. “For us, it means more than...
read moreCanadian landlords increasingly concerned about effect of cannabis use on rental property
LANDLORDS ARE INCREASINGLY CONCERNED about the effect of cannabis use on a rental property, according to a poll released October 8. Real estate website Zoocasa surveyed Canadian property owners and renters about how they feel since the legalization of cannabis last October 17. While homeowners and renters seem to be getting more comfortable with cannabis use and home growing, landlords responding to the survey were much more concerned about the growing or smoking of cannabis in their...
read moreElection Platform Information
The Liberals, NDP and the Green Party have released their platforms. The information below is based on those platforms, and on the Conservatives’ platform plank releases and past actions while in power. More promises may be made by the Conservatives when they release their election platform. Updates will be posted on the CFAA website as more promises are released. TAXATION The Liberals promise to make a small tax reduction with a focus on people who earn less than $47,000 per year, and nothing...
read moreDeveloper offers Ottawa over $6m in lieu of affordable housing
Trinity Development Group has agreed to pay Ottawa more than $6 million toward future affordable housing, but it’s unlikely that any of those units will be in what will become the city’s tallest building. The project, which has been approved by the city council, will have 1,200 units in three towers, the tallest of which will be 65 storeys. The complex will be located where the two O-Train lines merge at Bayview station. When the zoning was being debated last year, Somerset Councillor...
read moreSoaring rents and house prices in Canadian cities make housing a key election issue
Federal parties roll out their strategies to help urban Canadians keep housing costs in check. Jeff Gallant lived in his new home just 17 days before the For Sale sign went up. Soon after the single dad rented the house, it was sold and the new owners sent him notice of a major renovation that would force Gallant and his two young children to leave. A similar thing occurred at his previous place, and it’s happening to so many renters in Charlottetown that a new term has been born:...
read moreCanada’s next PM must ‘dig deeper’ on workplace equality, experts say
Four years after Justin Trudeau rode into the Prime Minister’s Office on a platform that included a vow to advance gender equality in the workplace, diversity experts have mixed views on how much has changed for women. “I don’t think we’re making nearly enough progress and I don’t think we’re making it fast enough,” said Laura McGee, founder and CEO of Diversio and co-chair of the Expert Panel on Women’s Entrepreneurship, in a phone interview. McGee pointed to the complete absence of...
read moreReal estate investors favour AirBnB over long-term leases. Is it time to rehaul the Landlord Tenant Board?
Paul D’Abruzzo took a tenant to the Landlord and Tenant Board for three months of unpaid rent on an investment property he owned in Whitby, and through mediation—his best option—ended up coughing up a fourth month of rent-free living. “My tenant sat there in mediation and said she can’t pay rent anymore, and after I asked her to leave she said she had nowhere to go,” said D’Abruzzo, who’s also a broker with Expert Investor Team at Rock Star Real Estate. “I was advised by the mediator that if...
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