Basements are great for pool tables, wine cellars and mini-stick rinks, but renting them out as apartments could soon be a thing of the past.
What happened: On the heels of an August flood that caused $2.5 billion in damages, Montréal will now allow boroughs in the city to ban the construction of new basement apartments.
- According to the Insurance Bureau of Canada, a large share of the 75,000 personal property claims from last month's storm stemmed from basement flooding.
- The head of Montréal’s water infrastructure warned last week that eventually, all basements in the city will likely be unlivable for tenants because of flooding.
Catch-up: Basements often bear the brunt of flood damage. Earlier this summer, a major storm flooded hundreds of basements in Toronto (including Drake’s), while heavy flooding in the Halifax area last year forced 750 people from their homes.
- In Montréal, landlords are already taking their basement units off the market while insurance companies have started to deny flood coverage to some higher-risk buildings with basements.
Why it matters: Basement apartments are usually the most affordable housing option in major cities. If those units become uninsurable and more landlords stop renting them out, Canada’s already thin supply of affordable units could become even thinner.—LA