Conflicts over was one of the most well-read topics on this year, with squabbles between landlords and tenants attracting hundreds of thousands of readers.
A raging affordability crisis — with  top of mind — added to this perfect storm of overvalued real estate and unaffordable rental rates.
Here are some of the biggest stories:
Ayesha Asghar’s homeownership nightmare captivated readers. The 36-year-old sold her Mississauga home in December 2023 and purchased a modest two-storey townhouse in east Hamilton. The move-in date was June 6, but the residents of her new house refused to leave, forcing Asghar into homelessness.
Over months of living in her car and on friends’ couches, Asghar was at the home and had to waive thousands in rent. She finally got possession of her home in late October, but .
A conflict between a landlord and tenant turned violent in August.
Police charged a tenant and her friend for allegedly assaulting and robbing a realtor who was trying to help evict her from a three-unit Wentworth Street North home. Later, for his role in connection to the parking lot skirmish.
after the tenant moved in, the landlord said, even though the tenant knew the house was for sale and showings would need to happen. What they found in the unit, they could not show to prospective buyers.
Marni Oram, a 70-year-old disabled woman, said she was never told her home was registered as a condo and could be sold.
ACORN supplied photoProperty management firm DiCenzo Management said it was helping to address the city’s ongoing housing crisis by selling townhomes it had rented out for decades. But for someone to have the dream of home ownership in those units, the renters would be forced out.
Residents, including 70-year-old disabled woman Marni Oram, say they signed leases stating the units were not condominiums when they moved in. Oram said she was never told her home was registered as a condo and could be sold.
Former Ticat Peter Dyakowski was ordered to make changes to his student housing buildings on Dundurn Street South to comply with Ontario’s fire code by June 30. The orders, that Dyakowski said he would appeal, are ones he had been fighting for years.
Chris Grawey stands under an overhang on the west side of 180 Bold St. where homeless people have gathered and started fires.Â
The Hamilton Spectator file photoTenants in a downtown highrise are miffed over coming rent increases their landlord says will pay for some $480,000 from five capital projects it says it completed between 2020 and 2021. The repairs, including to crumbling balconies, were substandard, tenants say. Longtime residents point to wide-ranging issues with the building, from homeless people loitering in stairwells and car break-ins in the garage, to fires under an overhang outside and no wheelchair ramp in the lobby.
Not just bad news
Despite the number and appeal of big bad housing stories, there are also plenty of good things happening on the housing file.
Hamilton is launching a variety of affordable, geared-to-income and supportive-housing units.
Among the new stock, a 24-unit King William Street run by Indwell started to welcome residents in November.
The second phase of the , replacing the City Motor Hotel at the Queenston traffic circle, is underway with more than 80 units becoming available between the two buildings.
Also, Hamilton affordable housing provider Kiwanis Homes rolled out its to the general public. The goal is to help low-to-middle-income renters break into the market with down payment and mortgage help.
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