Tag Archives: non-purpose-built

A Reminder Of The Importance Of Defining Purpose-Built Rentals

In this website’s second post, which I made back in July 2019, I explained how the rental supply should always be broken down into purpose-built and non-purpose-built rentals. Purpose-built rentals are dwelling units intended to be used as rentals and are usually found in multi-unit apartment buildings and townhouse complexes. Non-purpose-built rentals are dwelling units intended to be owned but… Read more »

Unofficial Rentals, Part III

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In my two previous posts on the topic of non-purpose-built or unofficial rentals I showed that in the ten largest cities in southern Ontario the number of non-purpose-built rentals can be quite large, often thousands of dwellings, and I discussed the different types of non-purpose-built rentals and why it’s important they are included in market surveys. In my first post,… Read more »

Unofficial Rentals, Part II

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In my first post in this series I examined the size of the non-purpose-built or unofficial rental supply in Ontario’s ten largest cities. In this post I discuss the three main types of non-purpose-built rentals, comment on their importance, and explain why knowing all of this is important. The non-purpose-built rental supply can be separated into the following three categories:… Read more »

Unofficial Rentals, Part I

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In my first post on this website I explained how the housing market breaks down, identifying the categories of housing into which it can be separated. Readers should go back and read that post. In it I described the difference between purpose-built and non-purpose-built rentals, what I tend to refer casually as “official” and “unofficial” rentals—or de jure and de… Read more »

Breaking Down the Housing Market

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Before digging deeply into rental housing, I want to make sure readers understand how the housing supply breaks down. First, the Census (conducted by Statistics Canada every five years) counts the total number of “occupied private dwellings”, which are all dwellings of any kind being occupied by households. In the Census, one dwelling is occupied by one household, and dwellings… Read more »