‘Tenants are more and more at risk’: Advocates call for action renters in Hamilton hits record-high

A new report from the Social Planning and Research Council (SPRC) has found that the growth in renters in Hamilton continues to outpace the growth in homeowners in the city.

Based on the latest census data from Statistics Canada, the report shows that between 2016 and 2021, the number of renting households in the city shot up by 11.5 per cent, while the number of homeowners climbed by just 2.3 per cent.

That level of growth has seen the number of renting households in Hamilton hit what the SPRC's Sara Mayo said is likely an all-time high of 76,400 in 2021, compared to 68,525 in 2016.

The increase in renters can be attributed to a number of factors, including record growth in home prices as well as the changing needs of an aging population, said Mayo, a social planner with the council.

As the city's population gets older, needs for housing change, added Mayo.

Nearly one in five residents in Hamilton is at least 65 years old, with the city's proportion of seniors swelling to 18.3 per cent in 2021 from 17.3 per cent in 2016.

There are many seniors who are moving from ownership to renting because they may have more need for supports," said Mayo. They may be moving to a retirement rental community or they need a more accessible apartment."

Mayo said increased costs of getting into the housing market, caused by a mix of rising mortgage rates and high prices, have also caused some higher-income renters to delay their home ownership plans.

The Realtors Association of Hamilton-Burlington recently reported that the average sale price of a home in the city was $790,130 in October - a 45 per cent jump from October 2019, when the average residential property sold for $545,720.

Prices of homes have gone beyond income levels in Hamilton," said Mayo. We have one of the most unaffordable markets."

Another factor affecting the number of renters is the displacement of tenants from cities affected by skyrocketing rents and renovictions - a pattern that has also played out for some low-income tenants in Hamilton.

Mayo pointed to rents in nearby cities like Toronto and Burlington, where the average one-bedroom apartment costs in excess of $2,000 a month, according to Rentals.ca.

In Hamilton, meanwhile, the average one-bedroom unit rents for $1,683.

If they lose their rental housing, they're moving here ... as despite our rents going up, they're less expensive than some of the GTA communities," she noted.

The research council said the continuing growth of the city's rental population points to the need for improved tenant protections as well as policies that will preserve existing rental housing stock.

Mayo said those solutions rely on the city taking on a more active role" and collaborating with other municipalities to call for policies on a provincial level.

That includes rules around raising rents after evictions and limiting the ways landlords encourage" longtime tenants to leave, such as closing laundry rooms or offering monetary incentives.

Landlords have consolidated a lot of power in this housing market," said Mayo. And tenants are more and more at risk of those types of tactics."

Fallon Hewitt is a reporter at The Spectator. fhewitt@thespec.com