‘A literal shoe box’: Why some Toronto renters are avoiding new builds
CBC
Delphine Winton just recently moved into an apartment by Castle Loma built in 1936 — and she’s not looking back.
During her hunt for a new space, the 22-year-old student was strictly looking for older buildings, choosing to stay away from the sliding glass doors, lack of "character" and odd floor plans she’s seen in newer condos.
“God forbid you have enough room to put a dining table in,” she told CBC Toronto.
Winton isn't the only Torontonian opting out of moving into new builds — for reasons ranging from a lack of rent control to poor layouts — at a time tenants are increasingly gaining leverage in the market.
Nicole Luongo, a 36-year-old policy analyst who just signed a lease for a unit in Little Portugal that’s “pushing 100 years old,” says she found the sterility of new units off-putting.
“[I] was also looking for an adequate size, a layout that felt livable versus claustrophobic,” she said.
For her, the affordability of an older place was also a major factor.
New purpose-built rental units are taking longer to lease because of increased competition from the secondary market, according to a July report from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).
Though CMHC data shows rent prices in older buildings are starting to catch up with new ones, affordability in tight, expensive markets deteriorated so much that many renters are settling for modest savings “by choosing older stock," according to the CMHC report.
Aside from wanting a bigger layout, having rent control is a must for Samantha Dangubic as she looks for a bigger place to live with her partner.
In Ontario, landlords in buildings that were first occupied before Nov. 15, 2018 are limited by how much they can raise rent every year.
“Some friends who did happen to try out the newer builds, they were hit with like a $500 increase,” Dangubic said.
“No one is able to pull that off nowadays, which really makes me curious who are these condos for?”
Over half (55.2 per cent) of Toronto condos built from 2016 to 2020 were used as investment properties as of 2020, according to a study from the Canadian Housing Statistics Program.
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