Whether you’re a newcomer renter or long-time homeowner, you might find housing market vocabulary confusing.
We break down all the terms for residential structures, rental setups and more.
So, we’re breaking down all the terms for residential structures, rental setups and more. You’ll find, below, a list of all essential Toronto housing terms. Click on each to go to the definition.
If there’s something I missed, send me an email a yara@thegreenline.to, and we’ll update our housing glossary.
Types of structures
- Detached house
- Bungalow
- Semi-detached house
- Row house
- Townhouse
- Hard loft
- Soft loft
- Multiplex (duplex, triplex, fourplex)
- Low-rise
- Mid-rise
- High-rise
- Laneway suite
- Garden suite
- Purpose-built rental
- Condo or condominium
- Market rent
- Affordable housing
- Rent-geared-to-income
- Social housing
- Supportive housing
- Rooming house
- Lease
- Sublease
- Down payment
- Security deposit
- Mortgage
- Rental arrear
- Above-guideline rent increase
- Eviction
Detached house
A detached house or a single-detached house is a standalone residential structure that doesn’t share any walls with other properties.
Bungalow
A bungalow is a type of detached house, specifically a single-storey house with no stairs.
Semi-detached house
A semi-detached house, also known as half house, is one of two residential structures that are attached to each other, side by side or back to back. This means the two units usually share a wall, and possibly a fence and garden. A semi-detached house has no other structure above or below it, and has open space on all sides except the wall attached to its other half.
Row house
Row houses are three or more single-family residential structures that are linked to each other through a shared wall. Row houses are typically uniform in design; they are stacked side by side in a row, and share a consistent facade or look.
Townhouse
Townhouses are residential structures that can include multiple housing units on multiple storeys; they can be stacked side by side or on top of each other like apartment buildings. Townhouses can be grouped in a common development and managed as condos, but they don’t necessarily share a design. In Canada, townhouses attached to a high-rise building are classified as row houses.
Hard loft
A hard loft is a unit that’s been converted from non-residential uses to residential uses. This includes an old office building, a manufacturing factory, a warehouse or a church that was turned into residential units. A hard loft might have exposed construction elements, such as brick work, original wooden posts, beams and concrete floors. Ceilings are typically higher than other regular housing units.
Soft loft
A soft loft is a newly constructed residential unit featuring an industrial interior design style.
Multiplex
A multiplex is a low-rise building containing two (duplex), three (triplex), four (fourplex) or more housing units, with at least two stacked on top of each other. The City of Toronto recently adopted a bylaw to allow residential sixplexes in some neighbourhoods.
Low-rise
Low-rise buildings have four storeys or less. They can include single- and semi-detached houses, duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes and townhouses with retail and service uses at street level. Low-rise buildings aren’t necessarily residential; they can be industrial or institutional, such as office buildings.
Mid-rise
Mid-rise buildings have between five and 14 storeys. In Toronto, the height of a mid-rise building varies from street to street because the city defines mid-rises as buildings that are generally no taller than the width of their adjacent, publicly owned, street. They can be residential only, commercial only or include a mix of both.
High-rise
The Ontario Building Code defines residential “high-rise buildings” as those being seven storeys or more in height. They can be residential only, commercial only or include a mix of both.
Laneway suite
A laneway suite is a self-contained residential unit located on the same lot as a detached house, semi-detached house, townhouse or other low-rise house. It’s typically located in the backyard, next to a public laneway. It’s generally smaller in size than the main house on the lot, and is completely detached from it.
Garden suite
A garden suite is a self-contained residential unit located on the same lot as a detached house or semi-detached house, usually in the backyard, but not on a public lane (as opposed to laneway suites which are next to public lanes).
purpose-built rental
A purpose-built rental or PBR building, also known as an apartment building, is a residential structure that’s designed and built specifically for long-term rental. Unlike condos, units in these structures are not designed to be sold.
Condo or condominium
A condo is a residential building made up of multiple units. Each unit is owned by a person, and common areas are owned jointly by all individual unit owners. Usually, a condo association or condo corporation charges a monthly fee to manage common areas, including amenities and elevators, as well as the building’s exterior. A condo could be an apartment building, or a complex of row houses or standalone townhouses.
There are two categories of condos: leasehold and freehold — and four sub-categories under freehold condos. (Fun fact: In Ontario, condos were first recognized as a form of home ownership in 1967 when the Condominium Act was passed.)
Leasehold Condo
In a leasehold condo, units and common elements are leased by the landowner (usually the developper) to the purchaser. The purchasers buy a leasehold interest in their units and common elements for a fixed number of years, but they don’t own the underlying land. It’s essentially a long-term rental lease. This type of condo isn’t common in Ontario.
Freehold Condo
Freehold condos are ones where the land/property is jointly owned by the unit owners, as opposed to leasehold condo, where unit owners actually lease the property long-term. There are four subcategories of freehold condos: standard, phased, common elements and vacant land.
Standard Condo
In a standard condo, individuals own their residential units as well as an interest in the building’s common elements and assets, including hallways, elevators, etc.
Phased Condo
In a phased condo, additional units or elements can be added in phases, up to 10 years after the initial condo registration. Since a phased condo is a type of freehold condo, unit owners also own common elements that are added later.
Common elements Condo
This type of condo registration just means that the condo corporation actually has no units, but it owns common land, which can include amenities. This means houses or units are owned by individuals. The land where these units are located are called parcels of tied land or POTL; that basically means the units are tied to the common land, which is then owned by all the individual house owners together.
Vacant land Condo
This just means that the condo corporation can be registered before anything is built on the land it owns.
Sole ownership
In sole ownership, one person or one entity (like a business) holds the title to the property and has full control.
Co-ownership
In a co-ownership, two or more people (or entities), often family or friends, own a share of a property. How much each owns and what happens if they die determines if co-owners are joint tenants or tenants in common. Tenants can co-own any type of property, whether that’s a detached house or a condo. In a house, they can decide to split the property into private units or share common spaces. You can learn more through The Green Line’s co-ownership guide.
Joint tenants
Joint tenancy is when co-owners have equal shares of the property. In this ownership structure, if one owner dies, the other automatically becomes the sole owner — that’s called “right of survivorship.”
Right of survivorship
The right of survivorship is a legal feature of joint tenancy where, upon one owner’s death, their share of the property automatically passes to the surviving owner(s).
Tenants in common
In tenancy in common, co-owners can have different shares of the property. It’s a flexible arrangement that lets each owner sell or transfer their share separately. Unlike joint tenancy, if one owner dies, their share goes to their heirs, not the other owners.
Co-housing
Co-housing is an intentional, collaborative housing model where owners agree to share common spaces and split household responsibilities. For example, people who co-own a detached house can each have their own private rooms, but agree to share the kitchen and living room. You can learn more through The Green Line’s co-housing guide and from the Canadian Co-housing Network.
Housing co-operative or co-op
A non-profit housing co-operative (co-op) is a corporation that is owned and operated by the people who live in it. People who live in co-ops are called members, not tenants. Co-op members are not exactly owners or renters, but something in between. There are no landlords; each member has one vote and every year, a board of directors is elected from the membership. You can learn more from the Co-operative Housing Federation of Toronto.
Land trusts
Land trusts are non-profit, charitable organizations that acquire land and/or buildings, and manage them with the benefit of the community in mind. Community land trusts or CLTs are place-based and work to meet the needs of their particular community. They may own land for rental, supportive, co-op or affordable homeownership housing projects. They can also manage commercial units, agricultural lands or cultural spaces. You can learn more from the Canadian Network of Community Land Trusts.
Market rent
Market rent is what tenants are typically charged in commercial residential buildings, whether that’s purpose-built rentals, condos or other structures. Average market rents or AMRs are published yearly by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) in the Rental Market Report. For example, in 2025, the AMR for a two-bedroom apartment was $2,034 in purpose-built rentals and $2,904 in condos.
Affordable housing
This one is tricky because there are many overlapping definitions from each level of government.
In Toronto, affordable rental housing is defined as equal to or below-average market rents published by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). This definition is criticized by advocate groups like the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), which says “municipal programs offering ‘affordable’ housing miss the mark, as the definition of affordability used by the City doesn’t meet the needs of Toronto tenants.”
In Ontario, affordable rental housing is defined as the lesser of these two options:
- income-based affordable rent, which means 30 per cent of the gross annual income for a household at the 60th percentile of renter incomes in a specific municipality.
- average market rent for the unit as identified in the Ministry of Municipal Affairs’s Affordable Residential Units bulletin (similar to the Toronto definition).
In Ontario, affordable ownership housing is defined as the lesser of these two options:
- income-based affordable purchase price, which means annual accommodation costs equal 30 per cent of the gross annual income for a household at the 60th percentile of incomes in a specific municipality.
- 90 per cent of the average purchase price as identified in the Ministry of Municipal Affairs’ Affordable Residential Units bulletin (similar to the Toronto definition).
On a federal level, housing is considered affordable when it costs less than 30 per cent of pre-tax household income. Affordability is assessed locally and across income groups. (This is most similar to the first option in the provincial definition.)
Rent-geared-to-income
Rent-geared-to-income (RGI) is a type of housing assistance or subsidy for low-income households in Toronto. Through the program, tenants pay on average 30 per cent of their income on rent. Eligible applicants join the City’s Centralized Waiting List for RGI housing. The number of people in need of subsidized housing exceeds the number of units available, so average wait times are long — from 10 to 15 years, depending on the type of apartment. You can learn more on the City of Toronto’s Rent-Geared-to-Income Housing page.
Social housing
Social housing, which is sometimes known as community housing, is government-assisted housing that provides lower cost rental units to households with low-to-moderate incomes. It can include public housing directly owned by government bodies, not-for-profit and co-operative housing, rent supplement programs in the private market and Indigenous housing. Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) is the largest social housing provider in Canada. TCHC is wholly owned by the City of Toronto, and operates as a non-profit.
Supportive housing
A supportive housing unit is a standalone residential unit within a building that has on-site supports, such as meal services, mental health and addiction support, education and employment assistance, and more. Generally in Toronto, each supportive home is a self-contained studio apartment with a bathroom and a kitchen. It’s a long-term housing arrangement, where tenants selected for supportive housing have an assessment of their individual needs completed to understand the types and level of support they will need to maintain housing stability. You can learn more from the City of Toronto.
Rooming house
In Toronto, a multi-tenant house, or rooming house, is a building where four or more rooms are rented out to separate people. Tenants may share the kitchen and/or washroom, but they don’t live together as a single housekeeping unit.
Lease
A lease is a legally binding residential tenancy agreement between a landlord and tenant. It outlines rent, duration and rules, including whether or not you’re required to get tenant’s insurance. You can check Ontario’s standard lease template here.
sublease
A sublease is an agreement between a tenant (who holds the actual lease) and another person who temporarily takes their place in the residential unit. When you sublet your residential unit, you’re still responsible for making sure the rent gets paid, and you’re also on the hook for compensating the landlord for any damage done to the apartment in your absence. Having a sublease agreement with the person taking over your unit can help you in case of these issues, but it’s not a legally binding agreement with the landlord. You can learn more from this tip sheet by the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario.
Security deposit
A landlord can ask a new tenant for a rent deposit or “security deposit” up to the amount of one month’s rent. Some landlords may ask for first and last month’s rent; this is legal. However, it’s illegal for a landlord to ask for an advance payment of three to 12 month’s rent. A landlord is also not legally allowed to charge you “damage deposits.” They can charge “key deposits” — an amount, usually no more than $200, for a copy of the key to the unit — but this has to be refunded. You can learn more from this tip sheet by the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario.
Down payment
A down payment is the initial, upfront amount of money you put towards the purchase of a home. It’s deducted from the total price of a home, with the rest being covered by a mortgage. The minimum amount you need for your down payment depends on the price of the home. The minimum down payment for a home that costs $500,000 or less is 5% of the price. It can go up to 20% of the price for a home that costs more than $1.5 million. It’s important to remember that the bigger the down payment, the smaller the mortgage, which could save you thousands of dollars in interest charges later. You can learn more on the Mortgages page of the Government of Canada.
Mortgage
A mortgage is a type of loan that allows you to borrow the amount you need to buy, build or refinance a property, whether that’s a house or condo or any structure in between. Your property serves as a guarantee for the lender, which is usually a bank.
Rental arrear
“Rental arrear,” or sometimes referred to as “arrear for rent,” is the legal term for overdue unpaid rent. A landlord can evict you if you’re behind on rent. Learn more from The Green Line’s guide, “Dealing with N4s: What happens when you’re behind on rent” or this tip sheet on rental arrears.
Above-guideline rent increase
Under the Residential Tenancies Act, landlords can only raise rent once a year by a fixed percentage (in 2026, it’s 2.1%) for units in buildings that’ve been home to renters since before Nov. 15, 2018. If the landlord wants to increase the rent by a higher percentage, that’s called an above-guideline rent increase or AGI. AGIs have to be approved by the Landlord and Tenant Board. In some cases, tenants can fight against them. Learn more from The Green Line’s guide to fighting above-guideline rent increases.
Eviction
An eviction is the legal process of a landlord forcing a tenant to vacate a rental property, typically due to lease violations, non-payment of rent or illegal activity. The landlord has to provide written notice in advance, and go through the Landlord and Tenant Board, which is the only authority that can actually force a tenant to move out. Learn more from The Green Line’s Action Journey on fighting evictions in Toronto.
No-fault eviction
Ontario’s Residential Tenancies Act allows a landlord to end a tenancy for reasons unrelated to a tenant’s actions. These types of evictions are called no-fault evictions. For example, a landlord can evict a tenant to complete a major renovation, demolish the building, or because they or certain family members would like to live in the rental unit. Learn more from The Green Line’s Action Journey on fighting evictions in Toronto.
Renoviction
Renoviction — a portmanteau of “renovation” and “eviction” — is a bad-faith practice where landlords claim they need to do major renovations to evict tenants. Often, it’s used as a tactic to raise rents significantly or re-rent to new tenants at higher market rates. To renovict a tenant, a landlord needs to provide an eviction notice called an N13. Learn more from The Green Line’s guide to dealing with N13s.
Demoviction
Demoviction — a portmanteau of “demolition” and “eviction” — is a kind of no-fault eviction when a building of six or more units is demolished and redeveloped. In the process, existing tenants are evicted, often with the promise of a replacement unit when the new building is ready. While tenants have the right to return, it’s not guaranteed, as oftentimes, rent will be much higher in the new units. Learn more from The Green Line’s guide to dealing with N13s.
Own-use eviction
An own-use eviction is a legal process where a landlord asks a tenant to move out because they, a buyer or a close family member want to live in the rental unit. It starts with the landlord providing a notice called an N12. Learn more from The Green Line’s guide to dealing with N12s.
Tenant association/tenant union
A tenant association is a group of renters in a specific building, complex or neighbourhood. Tenants work together to improve living conditions, including maintenance and safety, or to fight collectively against evictions and rent increases. The association is a formal structure for collective negotiation with landlords.
Tenant associations have an elected committee that sets a vision, and organizes activities and meetings. Some associations have a membership fee.
Sometimes, multiple associations can come together to form tenant unions, which are also structures that help negotiate collectively, and apply pressure on landlords publicly.
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