This woman on a fixed income is desperate to stay put as new data show huge Hamilton rent rises

Every time she thinks about her eviction notice, Colleen Langmead says feels knots forming in her stomach.

The 51-year-old Hamilton woman has been living in an east-end bachelor apartment since 2011, paying roughly $500 in monthly rent.

She said can't afford to pay much more.

Langmead is on a fixed income and receives Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) payments for various disabilities.

She has had an eviction notice that has kept her up at night, because she knows she won't be able to afford renting another place at current market rates.

"It's agitating, upsetting … I can't deal with not knowing and not having anywhere to go," she said. "I have no plan really."

Why have rent prices in Hamilton soared?

Data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) and Zumper show how the rental market has changed in the past five years.

The average rental listing price across the city has grown from $1,681 in 2019 to $2,212 in 2023.

The average rent current Hamilton tenants are paying is $1,493. That includes people who haven't moved and long-term tenants like Langmead who are in buildings first occupied before Nov. 15, 2018.

Buildings built after that date aren't subject to provincial rent control.

Those paying rent in social housing, meanwhile, pay just under $1,000 per month — an amount has stayed relatively steady.

Jim Dunn, a McMaster professor and director of the Canadian Housing Evidence Collaborative, said the data shows fewer people can transition from renting to home ownership — and people who have to leave their current rental unit will probably face a "huge jump" at their new place.

"It's very expensive, far more expensive than it was in the past," he said.

Dunn said rental construction is lagging far behind home ownership construction while demand has increased.

For example, CMHC noted just 65 purpose-built rental apartment units had been added to Hamilton in 2022.

Dunn said the slow builds are, in part, a product of the introduction of condos because it's easier for developers to build them, sell the units and move on.

High interest rates have also slowed development because it increased the cost of borrowing money, which reduced profit margins for developers.

How much will rent rise in vacant units?

CMHC's most recent rental market report for Hamilton showed fewer people are moving out of their units as demand continues to outpace supply.

The vacancy rate for purpose-built rental apartments in the city's census metropolitan area was 2.1 per cent, the second lowest since 2002. The turnover rate was at 11.1 per cent, the lowest since 2016.

"Renters likely felt pressured to stay put to avoid higher costs," the report reads.

Dunn said when someone leaves a unit, landlords can increase the price of rent to "whatever the market will bear."

The CMHC report shows when people did vacate their units, landlords capitalized.

"Rent growth was particularly strong for new tenants," it says. "Two-bedroom units that turned over to a new tenant rented for 31.2% more than units occupied by the same tenant as the year before."

Using that figure, if someone was renting a unit for $1,500 a month and moved out, a new tenant would be paying roughly $1,968.

Avoid moving if you can, expert says

Dunn said it's key to keep people stay in their units.

"Every time one of those units built before 2018 is vacated, not only does it create an affordability problem for the person, it's also a unit lost to the affordable or modestly priced stock."

He said the federal government's recent announcement it will invest $200 million into emergency winter funding for shelters and the Canada Housing Benefit, which offers financial support to low-income renters in partnership with provinces and territories, is welcome news.

He said the city moving forward with a vacant unit tax will be helpful.

So will helping non-profits build more units and finding ways to get more money into people's pockets.

"Most people who have housing don't have a housing problem, they have an income problem. That's what gets them into trouble," Dunn said.