Windsor student says he's on the verge of homelessness because of soaring rental prices

Damon Farnworth-McCorkle shares an apartment with his sister, and says their rent was just increased to a number they simply cannot afford.

The 24-year-old Windsor student says he lives off of $600 per month from Ontario Works, and now his sister is moving out.

"I've got two months to either pick up the lease on this apartment that I'm currently living in or I'm on the verge of homelessness," said Farnsworth-McCorkle.

He says with high rent and few vacancies in Windsor, he may have no other choice but to drop out of school with so much uncertainty ahead.

"I have to lay in bed every night knowing, there may be a day when I have to go to a homeless shelter or I might have to move back to my mom's basement. But she's raising three kids right now. She doesn't have the room for me."

Renting a place in Windsor from now through 2025 is going to continue to be difficult and pricey, according to a new report by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The report indicates the city's rental vacancy rate remains at an all-time low of 1.8 per cent and is expected to fall to 1 per cent — resulting in the price of rent continuing to climb. 

"High home ownership costs will lower rental vacancies and drive up rents in 2023," said Tad Mangwengwende, senior economics analyst with CMHC.

As reported in January 2023, the cost for an average two-bedroom Windsor apartment rental jumped to around $1,200, according to the CMHC. That's an increase of nearly 4 per cent from 2021, and that trend is expected to continue, says Mangwengwende.

"The decline will be the result of strong demand from population growth and from households delaying home ownership and staying in the rental market longer," the report states.

And as a result, rent prices are expected to "grow strongly." 

In 2024 and 2025, the vacancy rate is expected to increase marginally because more multi-residential homes are being built, the CMHC says.

The report forecasts rent in Windsor to increase over the next few years, hitting its peak this year when vacancies are expected to be at their lowest.

Windsor has started seeing bidding wars for rental apartments, according to the CMHC report, with competition expected to intensify as the population grows and supply remains limited.

Going forward, the pressure will be more acute on the rental side as opposed to the home buying side.- Tad Mangwengwende, senior analyst, CMHC

"A bigger story now, post the pandemic restrictions, is that the greatest pressure is going to be in the rental market because that is where we are now seeing the pressure of not being able to buy homes playing itself out — in that we have increasingly more people wanting the few available rental units," said Mangwengwende. 

"Going forward, the pressure will be more acute on the rental side as opposed to the home buying side."

As for what's driving the record-low vacancy rate in Windsor, Mangwengwende says it starts with an ongoing labour shortage. Not enough "bodies on the ground to do the work," he says. 

"Do we have the availability in the housing market to house all these people? No, we have limited capacity."

Maggie Chen says she doesn't know how the price for rentals in the region could get any higher.

"I just don't get it," said the president elect with the Windsor-Essex County Association of Realtors.

"What I can see right now is actually the rental price, to a point that, very likely will not be affordable for tenants anymore."

An average single family home in south Windsor — with three bedrooms … maybe two bathrooms and no garage — is going for "easily $2,300, probably $2,500" per month plus utilities, says Chen.

"We are in a very conflicting situation because the housing prices are higher and the borrowing costs are more so the homeowner/landlord has to increase the rent to be able to make ends meet."

"On the other side there's the tenant. Are their salaries now going up that fast? Not like, you know, 10 per cent each year. So, there is a conflict right there for both sides."

With files from Dale Molnar, Katerina Georgieva, Jason Viau and Josiah Sinanan