New report shows Hamilton’s rental market an uphill battle for tenants

By

Published December 3, 2019 at 3:07 pm

A new study shows that not only are Hamilton tenants being squeezed for more money, they’re also being evicted for things beyond their control in increasing numbers.

A new study shows that not only are Hamilton tenants being squeezed for more money, they’re also being evicted for things beyond their control in increasing numbers.

Last week, the Social Planning and Research Council of Hamilton (SPRC) published the first in a series of bulletins to highlight the problems renters in the city are facing in the current housing market.

As it stands, someone working a full-time minimum-wage job has to work at least 54 hours a week to afford a one-bedroom apartment in Hamilton, according to data from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

Between 2010 and 2016, the SPRC report says, Hamilton’s average rent increased by 3.7 per cent per year, which is the highest rate of growth among neighbouring communities, and well above the provincial average of 2.8 per cent.

The most recent data shows that Hamilton’s average rent rose by a whopping 6.9 per cent between 2017 and 2018, which, the report says, is driven by increasing rent on existing units and new construction of higher-priced units.

It’s worth pointing out that the Kitchener-Waterloo region has Hamilton beat here, seeing as how their average rent went up by almost 10 per cent over the same period.

The problem the SPRC is trying to highlight, though, is that these rent increases are not in step with inflation which has risen by six per cent in the year between 2015 to 2018. A recent CMHC report points out that rent increases during the same period have risen a total of 21 per cent.

With the rising cost of living and rents, the SPRC study found that a staggering number of renter households in Hamilton, 45 per cent to be exact, are living in unaffordable housing. This means more than 30 per cent of their income is going towards rent.

Another 20 per cent of Hamiltonians are spending more than 50 per cent of their income on rent. This number, SPRC notes, is in line with stats from neighbouring municipalities but is proof that the issue can’t just be tackled at the local level.

“Housing affordability must be addressed through coordinated local, regional, provincial and national solutions,” the report says.

Rising rents in Hamilton isn’t the only problem facing Hamilton’s tenants. Many are facing the threat of eviction.

The SPRC points out in their ‘Rising Eviction Rates Threatening Tenants and Affordable Housing’ bulletin, that eviction notices for reasons other than not paying rent (ie: for the landlord’s own use or renovations) has more than doubled in the last 10 years.

The Landlord-Tenant Board (LTB) does not keep track of what is known as ‘informal’ evictions which are being documented in greater numbers across Hamilton. These informal arrangements are all too familiar these days: financial incentives to vacate, or instances where landlords make living situations uncomfortable by neglecting maintenance, conducting disruptive renovations in nearby units etc.

Most of the time, the report says, tenants are uninformed about their right to stay in their homes.

“Even when landlords follow lawful eviction procedures,” the report says, “tenants almost universally have less power than landlords at the LTB hearings because only three per cent have legal representation, compared to 80 per cent of landlords.”

insauga's Editorial Standards and Policies advertising