Achi news desk-
It’s expected to be an expensive summer for anyone entering Guelph’s rental housing market.
With supply already tight, and with the potential of hundreds more unexpectedly entering the market, one expert told CTV News it’s a “perfect storm.”
“Golf already has one of the tighter historic rental markets, so it’s not because we have a wide availability of rental supply in the city.” said Tyson Hinsberger, Guelph Realtor and past president of the Guelph County Association of Realtors.
The catalyst for the storm was an announcement from the University of Guelph this week that 1,300 hundred students would be placed on a waiting list for first-year housing.
This is a situation that happened in the past. In 2022 Guelph had a waiting list of about 200 people. Hinschberger said he saw the market jump that summer.
“People were lined up out the door for rental properties, overnight rents dropped from $800 a room, which was already exorbitantly high, to over $1,000 a room in some cases,” Hinschberger said.
This summer Hinsberger expects more of the same.
“We’re projecting that student rent per room could go anywhere from the $1,000 range to the $1,250 range per room, so again that’s a 20 percent jump,” he said.
While it will be difficult to make a significant increase in rental supply, more property owners are looking to enter the market.
“The poaching is definitely happening even in properties that are not student-oriented. We are getting leads from people looking to provide student rentals or make it a student rental, our property management contacts are overwhelmed looking for what can be done,” Hinschberger said.
Gulf mayor “quite disappointed”
The mayor of Guelph expresses his disappointment with the fall semester housing options at the University of Guelph.
Mayor Cam Guthrie released a statement sharing his concerns about the housing options available. He said he is concerned about what could happen if solutions are not found immediately.
“Not only because of the effects on first-year students but on the greater Guelph community with the university’s planned over-recruitment tactics,” Guthrie said in his online statement.
More than 7,000 new students will become Guelph Gryphons this September, but the university only has 5,050 residence spaces available right now.
Guthrie said this would lead to significant and complex “ripple effects” for the community for years to come.
“This is completely unacceptable,” he said online.
Guthrie calls on the university leadership, asking them to actively participate in finding solutions.
Earlier this week, the University of Guelph said they were facing significant financial pressures that forced them to expand enrollment. They also said they understand why many people express their concern about the situation.
“We recognize that people are frustrated and upset. We’re doing our best to get as many students into residence as possible, and then provide other support where we can for those students who don’t get into residence,” Gwen Chapman, the university’s provost and academic vice president, explained Tuesday. .
