THE LOOMING RECESSION HAS FAMILIES LIKE OURS STRUGGLING TO KEEP UP
We are a young family of three that reside and work in Toronto. We currently rent a small apartment and can’t afford to buy a home in the city. Prior to Covid, our jobs provided us with more financial security, so we decided to buy one in Tiny; a place I’ve been visiting for over 20 years. Our long-term goal is to retire there. We would love to make the move there now but unfortunately our jobs have us stuck here. I work at Scotiabank Arena; my husband is in Waste Management for the City of Toronto and is currently on Long Term Disability due to a workplace injury.
WHY WE STARTED TO SHORT TERM RENT
We purchased our cottage in late 2019 with the goal of making it a place where our family could gather and spend weekends and holidays.
At the time, affordability was NOT an issue but when Covid hit just 3 months later, we lost our jobs.
This was an extremely stressful time, and we really had no choice but to begin renting our home to help cover the costs. Since then, we have done a mix of long- and short-term rentals. We rent to mostly families and have never had a single complaint or issue with bylaw officers.
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Our property is the exact opposite of a ghost hotel; we are not investors; we use it for ourselves and rent to help us afford our only mortgage, not a secondary one.
IMPACT OF THE STR BYLAW ON OUR FAMILY
The new bylaw and licensing regime have already had a huge financial impact on our family. The $1,500 cost of applying plus upwards of another $1,000 in inspection costs paired with a severe market reduction in rentals has us struggling to keep up with the costs of home ownership.
Our savings are already depleted, and the program has just begun. Limiting the amount we can rent will only plunge us further into financial hardship and see us lose the only home we have ever owned.
Because I work part time, it is often just myself and our seven-year-old daughter spending time in Tiny. Since the inception of the Interactive map on the Township website, I no longer feel safe visiting my home. I am scared we will be victims of harassment. We constantly worry about all the false claims and complaints that people are making about short-term rentals and that we too will be terrorized.
I urge you to please revisit this bylaw and consider families like us and all Tiny Township taxpayers.