In the post I made yesterday I mentioned an article in the Toronto Star published this past Sunday (November 24th) which discussed rent control in Ontario. The tenants quoted in the article, who are facing “economic evictions” due to the exemption of ‘new’ purpose-built rental buildings from rent control, suggested expanding rent control to include all rentals (ironically, the previous… Read more »
This past Sunday (November 24th) the Toronto Star published an article discussing the current provincial government’s reversion back to the rent control rules we’ve had since the late 1990s and the effects on tenants, some of whom are seeing big increases in rents on lease expiry. Of course, tenants in ‘old’ purpose-built rental buildings fall under rent control which means… Read more »
Is the rental housing industry recession-proof? Ontario’s rental housing industry seemed to sail through the 2008 and 2009 recession without encountering too many rocks, at least based on what I could see from my deck chair, and in fact the industry seemed to get steadily busier as if the recession never happened. What will happen in the next major recession,… Read more »
Regular readers will recall that in September I wrote a post about taxing vacant homes in St Catharines in which I discussed a number of reasons why it wasn’t a good idea and wasn’t practical. I wrote that post in response to a local newspaper article which reported on suggestions made by a local councillor. This past Sunday (November 10th)… Read more »
One of the most common concerns developers have is the cost of parking. Constructing underground parking spaces in new rental buildings costs between $20,000 to $50,000 per space. That’s a big range. I have no way of narrowing down that range myself, or even checking its basic accuracy since it’s based on estimates I’ve been told by various people in… Read more »
How has the rental housing industry changed over the 15+ years I’ve been working in it? Obviously, if you do one thing long enough and if you pay attention when you’re doing it, you notice when it changes and how it changes. Here’s what I’ve observed (in no particular order). – – – – – – – – – –… Read more »