this post was submitted on 24 Mar 2025
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Move over, millennials. A third of Canada’s single renters are seniors (archive.is)
submitted 4 days ago by sbv@sh.itjust.works to c/canada@lemmy.ca
15 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

This is grim:

Renters are twice as likely to spend more than 30 per cent of their income on housing than homeowners, according to Statscan data released last year, and the agency has found single-person households broadly to be more likely than other household types to be living in unaffordable or unsuitable housing.

...

The report also found higher rates of “material deprivation” among renters and single-person households. Respondents were identified as materially deprived if they couldn’t afford at least two essentials from a list including unexpected expenses, spending money, small gifts, bills, maintaining a comfortable temperature in their home, transportation and more.

It’s something that’s on Joy Edwards’s mind. The 70-year-old has been living in the same Toronto apartment since the 1980s, when she got divorced. While her rent for a two-bedroom apartment is well below the Toronto average, it eats up 60 per cent of her monthly Canada Pension Plan and Old Age Security payments.

Ms. Edwards said she was able to retire by minimizing her expenses and sometimes receiving some food from her church and a local community centre. But with developers expressing interest in her building, she said she worries “all the time” about being asked to leave.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/personal-finance/retirement/article-move-over-millennials-a-third-of-canadas-single-renters-are-seniors/

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[–] Nouveau_Burnswick@lemmy.world 11 points 4 days ago (10 children)

Well do anything to solve the housing crisis, except build more homes.

[–] ProgrammingSocks@pawb.social 17 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (4 children)

Private equity firms should not be able to own houses. There's homes, they're being bought and scalped essentially. And since renting is so ludicrously profitable most buildings end up being rented out by these massive firms rather than sold.

[–] marathon01@lemmy.ml -4 points 4 days ago (2 children)

What about apartment buildings, aren't they homes too? Good luck enforcing something like that! Probably be a charter violation too.

[–] ProgrammingSocks@pawb.social 0 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

I want houses 100% decommodified. If decommodified housing is a charter violation (it's not) then it's time to change the damn charter. We're not the states bud, I'm not gonna treat it like some holy document.

Just curious, do you know what the "ml" in "Lemmy.ml" stands for since you're defending landlords?

[–] NarrativeBear@lemmy.world 5 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

There are rental buildings and condominiums.

Rental buildings are "obviously" rented. The building is owned by one owner/company and operated by a management firm to oversees the property.

Condominiums have units that are owned by owners. Condominiums have boards which are run by owners. The owners hire a management firm to run the property and oversee day to day operations.

Unfortunately, many new buildings going up in Toronto as a example are predominantly rental properties. These are built by private investors that own the property and rent units out.

Generally these rental units are created as small as legally possible to maximise profits.

What I find fascinating in some EU countries is you can get a group of 10-15 strangers get together to build themselves a co-op building/condo. They get together, pool their investments, buy a parcel and build themselves a 3-4 story building that looks like any other building in the surrounding area. No private/forgin investors involved or needed.

(Co-op short for cooperative, its a business or organization democratically owned and controlled by its members, who share common needs and interests.)

[–] NeuronautML@lemmy.ml 2 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

In my EU country you also get that co-op without getting together with anyone before the building is built. Some company builds the building and sells out the apartments. After purchase you are legally bound to your Condominium, which you have mandatory fees depending on the amenities, such as elevators, insurance, sometimes swimming pool maintenance. Residents are just expected to organize themselves. The building is considered cooperatively owned by the apartment owners and therefore you are cooperatively responsible for its maintenance and integrity.

You also have meetings to democratically decide on what to spend on, like electric chargers, which kind of insurance to get or hiring a new administration company to manage things. You can skip the meetings if you want, but legally, you must pay the Condominium dues they give you.

It's not just 3-4 story buildings either. I've been part of 11 story condominiums, with 3 apartments a floor. I never thought this would be something fascinating in some parts of the world. It's quite normal here. What changed recently is now many condominium meetings are online, because it's easier.

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