How will changes to GWA regulations affect roomers and boarders?
• Is there and alternative to rooming houses for low-income tenants? • What is the current status of bachelorettes in Parkdale? • Should the new City of Toronto license rooming houses? Answers: What is a rooming house? A rooming house is any building in which renters occupy single rooms and share kitchens, bathrooms, and common areas. The building may be a converted single-family house, a converted hotel, or a purpose-built structure. Rooming houses may have as few as three rooms for rent, or more than a hundred. [Back to Top] Why are rooming houses important? Rooming houses are the cheapest form of permanent accommodation currently available in Toronto. Rents average about $400-$450 a month. Those who cannot afford a room in a rooming house, or who are evicted from a rooming house because they cannot pay the rent generally have to go to a hostel. (This puts an added burden on the city, because housing people in hostels costs about $1,200 per person per month.) Rooming houses are an es
