rfmcdonald | [URBAN NOTE] "Fears that shoddy Toronto condos could become future slums" (Reply)

This Thomson-Reuters article at CBC makes the decent point that the future of Toronto's condos, built shoddily and not up to handling environmental conditions, is dire. Might the booming new neighbourhoods on the waterfront and elsewhere become slums in a couple of decades?

While Toronto's housing boom rolls on, some of the housing itself is falling apart.

Canada's biggest city has more than 100,000 units under construction as developers and investors seek to cash in on condo prices that are up 25.7 per cent in the city over the past five years. The trouble is, many buildings are so poorly constructed that some residents fear that the money-spinners of today could become the slums of the future.

Glass panels have been falling off newly built Toronto condos, including the luxury Shangri-La and Trump towers and a dozen or more lesser-known buildings across the city. New buildings suffer from water leaks and poor insulation, making them ill-suited to Canadian weather.

"Many buildings that went up during the beginning of this condo boom are already facing high repair costs, and in many cases lawsuits, because they are built so shabbily," said Ted Kesik, a professor of building science at the University of Toronto.

"The life cycle is clear. They are okay for the first five years, they gradually deteriorate by year 10 ... and don't even reach year 20 before significant remedial work needs to be done. In 50 years these buildings may well become an urban slum."

'In 50 years these buildings may well become an urban slum.'- Ted Kesik, professor of building science at the University of Toronto

That's all far in the future for builders and investors who have had little trouble finding tenants, with the city's rental vacancy rate at 1.8 per cent. Condo prices are rising across the country, up 16.8 per cent in the last five years, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association.