McMaster students struggle to find off-campus living accommodations

McMaster students looking for housing in Hamilton deal with rent increases, lack of availability and lack of information

As the in-person fall term arrives, some McMaster students are struggling to find available and fairly priced student housing that is also of sound quality.  

Lack of Availability and Increases in Rent 

Bronwyn Mowat, a McMaster student, found the process of house hunting to be extremely challenging. 

“It's absolutely insane trying to get an off-campus house right now. I've had lots of experiences of people telling me they're no longer accepting applicants because of the sheer volume of people responding to ads. A lot of people straight up ghosted me too,” said Mowat. 

The increase in demand, according to Robert Braun, president of Wolverine Property Management, gives landlords the upper edge when selecting tenants, which leads to a sense of frustration when searching for housing. 

“A landlord wouldn't let us on their property to tour the house because one of our members was in class and they would only give tours to full groups, even though when we messaged them that morning, they said it was fine if one person was missing,” said Mowat. 

Ali Rehmaji, an Honours Biology fourth year student, described the difficulty of interacting with landlords. Rehmaji resorted to messaging several Facebook listings after having no responses through the Mac Off-Campus Housing program.  

“Around fourth year, out of 52 different landlords I messaged, only 15 came back to me and I only was able to set up two actual visits before I found a place. It can be a nuisance that I could feel like could be changed,” said Rehmaji. 

Rehmaji also described the lower quality houses currently for pre-pandemic prices.  

“My rent is the same. But the difference is, in second year, I had a whole house a full kitchen, two bathrooms, five bedrooms and two floors, whereas this time, it's a small basement apartment, which is, if you look at size, I'd say at least four to five times smaller for the same price,” said Rehmaji. 

Information Barriers for International Students 

Chinmay Ravindran, an international student going into his final year of the MBA program, described the added difficulty international students face when searching for student houses. Ravindran, who moved to Hamilton in 2021, initially found it hard to access resources about tenant’s rights.  

“Before we flew in, we didn’t know the rules. We didn't know that that the rules were mostly in the favor of the tenant,” said Ravindran. 

Ravindran explained this lack of information about tenant’s rights can lead to some landlords taking advantage of international students.  

“There needs to be a playbook or guide that really shares what an international student needs to know before that first conversation with a potential landlord. Before they take their first step, they need to know it all,” said Ravindran. 

Ravindran also echoed the struggles of dealing with a rent increase.  

“The extra $250 that we pay each month, it adds up. We would have wanted to use that $250 to buy a little more groceries or to go out more,” said Ravindran. 

The Housing Crisis: A Property Manager’s Perspective 

Braun attributes the lack of available houses to owners selling properties during the pandemic.  

“Since the pandemic, a lot of the owners we work with sold off their properties because they couldn't rent them. And a lot of them converted back to residential use because that was still a viable option through the pandemic,” said Braun. 

As in-person classes were reintroduced, students faced a market with a lower availability of student houses, which resulted in large volumes of applicants for landlords.  

“Well, it's been crazy. Really. The demand so outstrips the supply and a lot of our available rooms were gone in May and June,” said Braun. 

Braun remarked rent increases are a a result of various increases in insurance, hydro costs, taxes and the inflation and supply-chain issues of property maintenance. 

Moving Forward 

As the class of 2026 progresses through their first year, issues with finding off-campus housing loom over them. With a highly competitive housing market that favours the landlords, students are left to deal with rent increases, a lack of availability and information when looking for accommodations.