City Guideline 2016-4: Required rent increases for 2017 low end of market rents – Section 95

Applicability to Social Housing programs

Date issued	Effective date
August 1, 2016	Immediately

 Applicability to Social Housing programs

The City Guideline is applicable to the programs for which there is an “X” in the table below.

About City Guidelines

Under the authority of the Housing Services Act, the City of Toronto, Shelter, Support and Housing Administration (SSHA) Division City Guidelines and Rent-Geared-to-Income (RGI) Manual are the authority for housing administration and RGI administration for social housing providers in the City of Toronto.

City Guidelines are the City of Toronto’s mandatory policies and procedures that social housing providers must follow. City Guidelines are most often issued when a Local Rule is established by the City of Toronto, the Rent-Geared-to-Income (RGI) manual is updated, or other relevant legislative changes or operational requirements occur. City Guidelines which impact RGI have been incorporated into the RGI Manual.

Please see www.toronto.ca/socialhousing for more information.

Background

Required Rent Increases for 2016 Low End of Market (LEM) rents are listed in Table 1.  Required Rent Increases are based on:

• average Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) market rent increases/decreases by rent district; or
• the Ontario Rent Control Guideline, where CMHC data was not available.

Where CMHC recorded decreases in rent, the Required Rent Increase is zero.  Where CMHC recorded increases greater than the Rent Control Guideline, the Required Rent Increase is equal to the Rent Control Guideline.

What you should know about Required Rent Increases

• There are different Required Rent Increase for each of the rent districts in Toronto.
• Apartments and townhouses each have separate columns in the Required Rent Increase table.
• For stacked row housing, providers should use the Require Rent Increases for apartments.

Table 1 –  Required Rent Increases for 2017 Low End of Market (LEM) Rents

Toronto  District	Rent District Codes	Apartment Average Rent	(Row)Townhouse Average Rent
		2017 Market Rent Index	2017 Market Rent Index
Toronto Zone 1 – Former City of Toronto (Central)	M1A1	1.5 %	0.0 %
Toronto Zone 2 – Former City of Toronto (East)	M1A2	1.5 %	0.0 %
Toronto Zone 3 – Former City of Toronto (North)	M1A3	1.5 %	0.0 %
Toronto Zone 4 – Former City of Toronto (West)	M1A4	1.5 %	0.0 %
Toronto Zone 5 – Etobicoke (South)	M1C1	1.5 %	0.0 %
Toronto Zone 6 – Etobicoke (Central)	M1C2	1.5 %	0.6 %
Toronto Zone 7 – Etobicoke (North)	M1C3	1.5 %	1.5 %
Toronto Zone 8 – York	M1F	1.5 %	0.0 %
Toronto Zone 9 – East York	M1B	1.5 %	1.5 %
Toronto Zone 10 – Scarborough   (Central)	M1E1	1.5 %	0.0 %
Toronto Zone 11 – Scarborough   (North)	M1E2	1.5 %	0.0 %
Toronto Zone 12 – Scarborough (East)	M1E3	1.5 %	0.0
Toronto Zone 13 – North York   (Southeast)	M1D1	1.5 %	1.5 %
Toronto Zone 14 – North York   (Northeast)	M1D2	1.5 %	0.5 %
Toronto Zone 15 – North York   (Southwest)	M1D3	1.5 %	0.0 %
Toronto Zone 16 – North York (North Central)	M1D5	1.5 %	0.0 %
Toronto Zone 17 – North York   (Northwest)	M1D4	1.5 %	0.0 %

Actions required

Social housing providers (SHPs) to which this applies must take the following actions:

1. For 2017 budget year, all Section 95 social housing providers must increase their Low End of Market (LEM) rents by the Required Rent Increase for their rent district.
2. If Section 95 housing providers would like to increase LEM rents by more or less than the Required Rent Increase for their rent district, they must submit a business case to their Social Housing Consultant.

Questions

If you have any questions, please contact your Social Housing Consultant or the SHU:

Social Housing Unit

Shelter, Support & Housing Administration

City of Toronto

365 Bloor Street East, 15th floor

Toronto, ON M4W 3L4

Telephone: 416-392-4126

Email: socialhousing@toronto.ca

Website: www.toronto.ca/socialhousing