SWG PROPERTY: Rooming Houses

Aug 2024

Securing an affordable rental in major cities is getting more difficult. According to recent reporting on Rental.ca, asking rents for all residential property types in Canada increased 7.0% from a year ago to an average of $2,185 in June. (1)

One affordable option for students and those with a low to lower-middle income is a rooming house, and it comes with its own unique insurance needs.

Defining what exactly constitutes a rooming house can be confusing, as it has evolved over time. The city of Toronto describes a rooming house as “a house, apartment or building where you share a kitchen and/or washroom with four or more people that pay individual rent.”

More specifically, a rooming house is defined as follows:
  • It must be a self-contained unit where the dwelling rooms total 3 or more, provided in exchange for remuneration per dwelling.
  • The residents in each dwelling room are unrelated.
  • The separate residents share the bathroom and/or kitchen facilities that are inside of that self-contained unit.

Brokers who represent rooming house property owners should be aware of both the regulatory landscape and the common exposures of this hard-to-place market so they can offer the right converge for their clients.

Understanding the Liability Risks for Property Owners of Rooming Houses

With the growth and regulation of this market comes unique and changing risks. Property wear and tear, for instance, will be greater and it can be more challenging to hold someone accountable for damages, especially to common areas. For example, what if none of the tenants will admit fault to damage?

In addition, there have been a number of fatalities from fires over the last few years. Many claims are turned down because property owners either failed to inform their insurance provider of changes in occupancy, or failed to follow guidelines like fire codes.

SWG PROPERTY: Commercial Property Insurance

SWG PROPERTY – Commercial Property Liability is designed to cover hard-to-place property accounts. We can accommodate most realty-type risks, from stand-alone rentals and vacant dwellings to large commercial risks, with an in-house capacity of up to $7,000,000.

Coverage Highlights:
  • Named Perils
  • ACV
  • Dependent on individual risk, age, construction, occupancy, and town grade

Other Coverages Include:

  • Sewer Back Up
  • Mechanical Breakdown

Liability:

Most realty type risks are written on a “Premises” type form but full CGLs including Tenant’s Legal Liability are available.

We Also Cover:
  • Apartment Houses (with/out commercial occupancies)
  • Campgrounds
  • Food Trucks/Hotdog Carts/Chip Trucks
  • Hotels/Motels
  • Rented Dwellings
  • Retail Stores
  • Strip Plazas
  • Student Housing
  • Vacant Property

Visit the SWG product page for more information:

Content is current as of the date of broadcast and is subject to change without notice.

Sources

  1. https://rentals.ca/national-rent-report
  2. https://www.toronto.com/news-story/10387900–status-quo-isn-t-working-toronto-proposing-city-wide-rules-for-legal-rooming-houses/