November 2024
A growing number of families are embracing multigenerational living as an adjustment to the cost of housing. Our high-rise condominium communities are not yet prepared for this transition.
A multigenerational home is a household that includes three or more generations of the same family. This could be two adults, their two children and aging parents. This was common prior to the Second World War and is once again gaining in popularity. Grandparents can watch over the children when both parents are at work. They all share in the obligations of maintaining the home.
Statistics Canada reports that the number of homes shared by multiple generations of a family has grown by 45 percent in the past two decades, and represents seven percent of all Canadian households. Nearly one in ten children between the ages of zero to 14 live in the same household with a grandparent. And perhaps the most telling sign of the times: In Ontario, nearly 49 percent of young adults reside with at least one parent.
Multigenerational housing is most common among Indigenous and South Asian populations. The trend is expected to increase.
Multigenerational households save money on child and elder care. Families pooling their funds are better able to pay the mortgage, property taxes, utilities, maintenance and repairs. Groceries are less expensive when purchased in bulk. Research in the United States shows the share of people living in poverty to be lower among multigenerational households.
To better accommodate multigenerational living, and also to increase a unit’s selling price, some owners choose to “create” an additional bedroom to support higher occupancy. While this may be desirable at the unit level, a condominium corporation can take measures to avoid problems and higher expenses arising from over-occupancy.
High-Rise Condominium Restrictions
Most high-rise condominium corporations control building residency to avoid overcrowding and its problems through rules, by-laws and the declaration. Accommodation for multigenerational housing requires changes.
Single Family Rule
The “single-family rule” municipal zoning law limits the number of occupants in a home based on familial relationship. Condominium communities define this in different ways.
Single-family rules are intended to prevent single rooms of condominium units from being rented to unrelated and transient tenants for a short period of time
Single-family rules are intended to prevent single rooms of condominium units from being rented to unrelated and transient tenants for a short period of time. Without flexibility, these rules restrict cousins or live-in home care workers from residency. Seniors may be prohibited from living together. These restrictions do not, as some argue, conflict with human rights legislation by restricting residency according to gender, age or sexual orientation.
Allowing condo suites to become rooming or boarding houses is a disruption that causes additional expenditures for the community that must be funded by resident owners. Prohibiting relatives, seniors or home care workers from residency is an unnecessary effect.
A condominium corporation may state something similar to “each unit … shall be occupied and used as a private single-family residence and for no other purpose…” Reasonably applied, the restriction protects owners from overcrowding.
Occupancy Limits
Occupancy limits is a complementary approach to prevent overcrowding. Too many people using common areas including parking can be problematic. Units with more residents use more utilities, generate more trash, create more noise and odour, and cause more wear on common areas. Elevators may break down more frequently and have longer waits. There may be safety and lifestyle considerations.
Restrictions may be stated in terms of bedrooms, such as two individuals per bedroom. Renovations that add or remove a bedroom from original construction are unlikely to impact on allowable residency.
Supporting Multigenerational Housing
Multigenerational housing can be supported without negatively impacting on other residents if supported by building infrastructure. This requires strictly enforced rules to protect against noise, odours and other problems. Rather than strictly prohibiting unit residency in excess of a stated limit, a per person fee added to monthly condo fees to account for heavier use of utilities, common areas and services would address cost concerns.
