Affordable rents: Here’s what you need to make in London (a lot)

Article content

A little more than $32 an hour.

That’s how much a new report says Londoners need to make if they want to keep their rent from chewing up more than 30 per cent of their income, the threshold often used to measure housing affordability.

The figure, almost twice Ontario’s minimum wage, reflects the “depth and breadth” of a London housing crisis showing little signs of abating, a local housing advocate says.

Article content

Zoocasa, a real estate company, developed the report by comparing average asking rents in more than 20 markets across Canada and calculating the income needed in each city to keep rents below 32 per cent of a person’s income. For Ontario, the study also used the province’s past minimum wage, which went up on Oct. 1 to $17.20 from $16.55.

In London’s case, a tenant needed to earn $32.69 an hour, or about $63,750 a year, for a one-bedroom unit with an average $1,700 rent to be considered affordable.

The income needed goes up to $41.15 an hour, or about $84,250 a year, for a two-bedroom unit with an average monthly rent of $2,140. That means a couple earning minimum wage also wouldn’t keep their rent costs below the 30 per cent mark.

“With the amount of (money) rentals are going for across the country, you wouldn’t necessarily be able to afford to live in most places with a minimum wage,” said Zoocasa’s Angela Serednicki.

“So, the study highlights the difference between minimum wage and the living wage needed to be able to live comfortably, especially when you focus on the fact that only 32 per cent should be spent on your housing.”

Article content

Article content

As high as London figures seem, the city ranked 15th among 23 markets analyzed by Zoocasa.

Vancouver was the priciest place to rent in Canada, requiring an hourly wage of $73.08. Toronto was next, topping Ontario centres at $61.54 an hour.

On the other end of the spectrum, Windsor was the cheapest metropolitan centre in Ontario, with residents needing to make $32.50 an hour. Saskatoon was the nation’s most affordable market at $28.46.

Joan Atkinson of the Sisters of St. Joseph’s office for systemic justice said housing prices have now become the key factor putting people at risk of  homelessness, including full-time workers making minimum wage.

“For lower-income people, it’s becoming more and more difficult for them to make ends meet,” said Atkinson, who also chairs the London Affordable Housing Foundation.

“It shows both the depth and the breadth of the crisis . . . (when) incomes aren’t adequate to cover the cost of basic goods and services.”

Atkinson said the issue has been compounded in recent years by inflation, especially at the grocery store.

While inflationary pressures have subsided, food prices remain high.

Article content

According to Statistics Canada, the country’s overall inflation rate was 1.6 per cent in September. But food bought from stores last month was 2.4 per cent more expensive than a year before, with frozen beef (9.2 per cent), fats and oils (7.8 per cent), and eggs (five per cent) leading price gains.

Those realities force many families to make tough choices and rely on the local food bank or community organizations for items such as clothing, said Atkinson, whose organization is working to create a housing development with about 400 affordable units on the old Victoria Hospital lands.

“The minimum wage went up a few cents a couple of weeks ago, (but) that’s still not enough to meet the difference between what the grocery bill says and how much money (families) would have for rent and food,” she said.

“Rather than getting better, I have a sense that we’re falling behind deeper and deeper, especially for the people who have the least . . . income, because their options are almost non-existent.”

jjuha@postmedia.com

Article content