KINGSTON — The city’s record low vacancy rate has been replaced by record high rent increases.

The addition of rental units outside the city centre helped to more than triple the city’s rental vacancy rate, according to statistics from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

The rental vacancy rate in the Kingston Census Metropolitan Area — which includes Frontenac Islands, Loyalist and South Frontenac townships — increased to 1.9 per cent in 2019, the first increase in five years and a more than three-fold increase from 2018’s record low rate of 0.6 per cent.

The increase almost brings Kingston to the Ontario average rental vacancy rate of two per cent.

“This strong growth brought more balance to the market, alleviating some of the downward pressure on vacancy rates seen in the last few years. The number of vacant units more than tripled, generating the softest market conditions in the last three years,” the CMHC report stated.

But it was the addition of rental units outside the city centre and softening demand in the downtown that contributed to the increased vacancy rate.

“It’s very good news but we still have a lot of work to do,” said Mayor Bryan Paterson. “We’re still not at a healthy vacancy rate.”

The city is aiming to increase the rental vacancy rate to about three per cent.

And while the availability of housing may have gotten better, the affordability did not.

“The average fixed sample rent for all bedroom types in Kingston CMA increased by 7.9 per cent between 2018 and 2019, which is significantly above the 2019 Ontario rent guideline of 1.8 per cent,” the CMHC report stated. “The 7.9 per cent increase was the highest rate of growth since we started collecting rent data.

At 17.4 per cent, Kingston’s overall rental turnover rate is the fourth highest in Ontario`, and people who moved likely faced rent increases, the report added.

“Since rent controls do not apply at turnover, it is most likely that all new tenants and tenants who moved units during 2019 faced higher rents than those who remained put,” the report stated. Paterson said the solution to rent costs is on supply side of the equation, adding that more housing will help rents become more affordable. “That is what happens when you have a housing crunch,” Paterson said. “I say this as the mayor and an economist. We desperately need to increase that supply.”

According to the city, there are more than 970 new residential units under construction, including almost 640 in multi-unit buildings that will add to the rental supply this year and in 2021.