The Ontario Rent Increase Guideline Was Announced and Toronto Landlords Can Only Raise the Rent 1.6 Per Cent in 2015
We have received lots of positive emails from Toronto landlords over our posts in 2015.
John Cheung from Scarborough was really happy to learn how Toronto landlords can run tenant credit checks to make sure you verify what they say to you and write in their application.
He has now become a member of the Ontario Landlords Association and found good tenants and is happy to become part of a large and growing group of serious and professional small residential landlords who are determined to succeed.
The Ontario Landlords Association was recommended in the Toronto Star for landlords to get credit checks and important documents.
John Cheung wrote in:
“Thank you for writing this very informational blog! The rental system in Ontario is quite ‘unique’ compared to Hong Kong and very challenging and I’m happy to become an OLA member and do tenant credit checks and found some good tenants!
Keep up the good work! Xie xie/Thank you!”
Questions About Raising The Rent
We have also received a lot of questions from landlords commenting on how expensive it is becoming to own a rental property.
For example, Andrew in Etobicoke wrote in:
“I rent to a family and all the utilities are included in the rent. They have rented from me for six years and with the price of electricity, gas, and water going up I’ve gone from a positive cash-flow situation to a negative cash-flow situation.
How much can I raise the rent? I will need to increase it by at least $200 per month to be able to keep being a landlord otherwise I have to sell. I can’t keep losing money.”
Ontario Rent Increase Guideline 2015
The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing recently announced how much landlords can raise the rent for existing tenants in 2015.
It is only 1.6% and this was really disappointing for many small landlords.
Some Rental Properties Are Not Covered By the Rent Increase Guideline
If your property was build after November, 1991 you might be exempt from the rent increase guideline and can raise your rents as much as the market dictates (as long as you provide proper notice to your tenants).
This is the same situation as what Alberta landlords face. Give proper notice and raise the rent to keep from losing money.
Toronto Landlords – How Much Can You Raise the Rent?
For most residential landlords you can only raise the rent by 1.6% in 2015. Is that really enough to cover your increasing costs?
With such low rent increases it’s important to rent to good tenants.
Join the Ontario Landlords Association for a low one-time fee and start running tenant credit checks to make sure you know who you are renting to!
