This week we came across a posting for a one bedroom apartment in the Toronto Beaches – a bit steep at $950 per month without parking, but then, that’s what the market will bear.  But what if we add HST to that?  That raises the rent by 8%, which works out to an additional $912 per year – nearly as much as an extra month’s rent!

With the HST set to take effect this July, there are several crucial questions all tenants in Ontario should be asking:  Do tenants know what impact the HST will have on their rent? How are landlords going to be reimbursed for a list of extra costs including utilities such as gas heat, electricity, hydro, and other costs related to property management and the like? When HST is added to these costs, will it be passed on to tenants?

Nobody seems to know for sure, but The Federation of Rental Housing in Ontario (FRPO) estimated that the harmonized sales tax will increase residential rents in Ontario by 2.5 to 3.0 percent only.  But concrete answers are nowhere to be found.

One thing is for certain:  landlords are going to incur extra costs because of the HST.  Even though residential rents are supposedly exempt from HST, landlords may try to recover their costs and an uninformed renting public may not realize this isn’t supposed to happen, or may feel they are not able to do anything about it.

Do you rent in the Beach and have concerns about your rent come July?  Or are you a Beach homeowner or landlord planning to raise rents once your costs rise?  Let us know your opinion!