‘The issue has become so deep’: CMHC report shows Windsor rental market becoming increasingly unaffordable

Two new data indicators from the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) show the rental market in Windsor is tightening further — leaving low and middle-income earners unable to afford a place to live in the region.

On June 22, CMHC released its Rental Housing Survey, showing the Windsor Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) — which includes LaSalle, Tecumseh, Lakeshore and Amherstburg — was among a slew of Ontario cities without affordable rental units for those at the lower end of the income scale.

“It’s about zero per cent of rental apartments that are out there are affordable to that lowest 20 per cent of renters,” Anthony Passarelli, a senior market analyst with CMHC, told CTV News. “The issue has become so deep that even some of these middle income renters are having a hard time finding an affordable place to rent.”

The CMHC defines an affordable rent as the price consuming no more than 30 per cent of pre-tax income.

In addition to the lack of available access to rental units in the Windsor CMA, the second indicator from CMHC points to a growing gap between rent payments for units occupied in the last 12 months compared to newly rented units.

Passarelli said in Windsor, that gap is averaging $300 per month — meaning a lack of turnover and availability in the market. According to CMHC, the new analysis “increase[s] our awareness of the lack housing supply in Canada.”

Further highlighting the ultra-competitive rental market, CMHC reported in its 2023 Rental Market Report that Windsor saw its first bidding wars for rental units in 2022.

Renter Struggles

Maria Margaritas knows first-hand the challenge of finding a rental in the Windsor area, returning to the region from Montreal.

“I was really surprised that the rent was more expensive in Windsor than it was in Montreal,” said Margaritas. “In Montreal, we had an apartment, we paid $1,425 [a month] plus utilities and the utilities were not very expensive.”

The challenge of finding a new place to call home meant moving back in with her elderly parents for more than a year as the search progressed — or stalled in many cases.

Margaritas said the ordeal began during the height of the pandemic when she moved, along with her husband to Windsor, initially searching for a house to buy; however, bidding wars kept a home purchase out of reach.

But, she did not expect to find the same issue in looking for a place to rent.

She added, “We were running into bidding wars where people were bidding over the rental [price] and that got even scarier because we thought, ‘Oh my God, we’re not even going to be able to rent!’”

Margaritas was finally able to find a home in a new build on the outskirts of Windsor in February of this year.

The Fix

As far as the CMHC is concerned, the solution to the affordability crisis is to build.

“The rental supply continues to grow but, not fast enough and you’ve sort of dug yourself a pretty big hole in these centres such as Windsor, that you really have to ramp up the construction to start to get things back to a reasonable level,” said Passarelli.

The vacancy rate in the Windsor CMA remains at a record-low 1.8 per cent according to the CMHC.

That lack of purpose-built rental buildings is contributing to the stressful search for housing.

“We were nervous even with this place that we knew somebody else was also looking at the apartment,” said Margaritas. “We thought, ‘Oh my God. What if we don’t get this one?’ It was very stressful.”

CMCH points to other areas of concern driving the rise in rent, including higher demand stemming from an immigration rebound and strong employment markets, a lack of supply, and rising interest rates that have reduced homeownership and sent more people into the rental market.