Many students experience a struggle when looking for housing accommodations in university areas.
Sivamrutha Kayilaasan is one of these students, who recently finished a bachelor’s degree in honours science at the University of Waterloo and was accepted into a master’s degree program at Wilfrid Laurier University in mid-July. She said this is exciting news, but she now has to look for housing in Waterloo once again.
“Looking for housing can really come down to the luck of the draw and the process is exhausting,” Kayilaasan said. “Looking for a place to live in a short span of time before school starts wasn’t my main concern, it was the fast-moving market.”
She said there were a lot of postings online for places up for rent over the summer, but from the many she replied to, only a few got back to her.
In some of the postings Kayilaasan found when looking for places she could sublet from Conestoga College students, she said the poster offered the option of sharing a bedroom with someone else.
This has been an issue near Conestoga College’s Waterloo campus, but even more so at the college’s Doon campus in Kitchener. According to CTV News and a report funded by Ontario’s Big City Mayors, it found a 1,579 per cent growth in international students at Conestoga College since 2014.
Yet, Waterloo Region Councillor Michael Harris said to CTV News earlier this year that there have been no developments of new student residence buildings, which resulted in many international students living in inhumane conditions. Harris said he spoke to one student who told him he was living in a house with 13 other students.
From the landlord’s perspective, some raise concerns about leasing to students when considering leasing turnover, property damage, yard maintenance, noise complaints and fines.
Aksaya Ghetheeswaran is a local landlord’s daughter who owns a house on Marshall Street, a road that is a less than 10-minute walk to Laurier campus. She said the idea of uneasiness when it comes to leasing to students versus families can deter landlords from buying a property in a university area.
“The unpredictability of renting to students and how they upkeep the property is something to think about when choosing where to get a rental property,” Ghetheeswaran said. This experience is in the sense of living habits and cleanliness of the house and when it comes to paying rent.
Ghetheeswaran’s family says effective communication with tenants is important to build a relationship and a rapport to prevent any misunderstandings that can result in a neglect of the property and even a fine from the city.
She said landlords can deal with fines in different ways. Her family stipulates in the contracts for their tenants that if they incur fines for acts like not mowing the lawn or shoveling the driveway, then the tenants must pay.
All this considered, Ghetheeswaran said what makes landlords want to rent in areas like Waterloo is the constant high demand for housing from students.
