Apartment fires leave residents hunting for homes amid Winnipeg's scarce affordable rental stock
CBC
Fires at two large apartment buildings in Winnipeg within the past month alone have displaced around 100 people, with some now struggling to find a new place to live due to a lack of affordable rentals.
Longtime tenants James Zepp, 72, and his wife, Zyta, were among about 40 residents forced from the five five-storey building at 85 Furby St. due to an early morning fire on Feb. 11.
"For us, it was a major uprooting," Zepp said in a phone interview.
A few weeks later, a massive fire on the afternoon of March 5 at 774 Toronto St. displaced 54 people.
Both fires come amid a tight rental market in Winnipeg.
The latest numbers from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation show a 1.8 per cent rental vacancy rate for Winnipeg, down from 2.7 per cent in January 2023. The average rent for a two-bedroom suite was $1,427 per month — up 4.4 per cent last year compared to 2022, according to the CMHC.
The corporation said factors like employment growth, population growth and wage growth led to greater demand and a tighter rental market last year. The number of new rental suites in 2023 did not keep pace with that demand.
The supply is even more scarce for "affordable" rentals — which the CMHC defines as units with rents totalling no more than 30 per cent of household income.
For most income groups, "affordable rentals remained scarce," which "could potentially force households into less suitable units as they try to save on housing costs," the CMHC report says.
Both the Furby and Toronto Street buildings damaged by fire are managed by D-7 Property Management.
The company also manages a block next door to 774 Toronto that sustained some damage in the March 5 fire.
In total, people in 72 suites — 44 suites in the Furby building and 14 suites in each of the Toronto Street buildings — were displaced by the two fires, said Jean Reuther, D-7's manager.
People at 768 Toronto may be able to return, but it's still not clear when, she said.
Reuther said the company has found homes for seven people in some of its other rental buildings in the city.
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