The rise in rents in Sherbrooke, combined with their scarcity, raises fears of a housing crisis as serious, if not worse than that of last year.
• Read also: Here’s how many hours you need to work per week at minimum wage to pay your rent
• Read also: Inflation worries Quebecers more than ever
Apartment buildings are already full, even if the lease renewal period has only just begun.
Owners of rental accommodation told TVA Nouvelles that 100% of their tenants had chosen not to move for fear of finding themselves homeless or having to pay more.
As for the Gest-Immo corporation, which manages about 800 doors in Sherbrooke, it has been confirmed that only 41 tenants will move this year, compared to 170 in 2021.
However, more than 1,000 housing units were built in Sherbrooke over the past year, a number that still seems insufficient given the many people who have migrated to Sherbrooke, increasing the pressure on the rental market.
Data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) shows that, on average, the price of rents rose by 9.2% in 2021. This statistic, however, takes into account the price of new housing and more substantial increases for buildings less than five years old.
The increase for less recent buildings would be more around 5%.
Monday morning, the Association of tenants of Sherbrooke identified only twenty units for rent.
The instruction is not to move, unless in a case of force majeure.
Last July, about sixty families or people found themselves on the street. The situation could be even worse in 2022.