Real Estate

Basement Renovation - Legal Vs Personal Use

  • Last Updated:
  • May 28th, 2023 8:46 am
Newbie
Aug 3, 2022
16 posts
2 upvotes

Basement Renovation - Legal Vs Personal Use

Hi All,

I have a question regarding the basement renovation with Personal use vs legal basement permits.

I am located in Toronto. Ideally, I would like to finish the basement with all required permits and use it for Airbnb, the basement has a separate side entrance.

I have received quotes from contractors to build a legal basement, however in Toronto if you have a legal basement it is treated as a separate unit & you cannot use it for short-term rentals (<28 days). So, I would ideally want the basement built to "legal basement" specifications minus the kitchen (so that it is not treated as a separate unit) and get permits for personal use from the city. The reason behind this is - if in the future I decide to get a legal basement approved by the city I would be able to do so with minimum expense. However, I worry that if I propose this to the contractor I might not be a good judge of what they are doing is going to be legal proof in the future.

1. What's the best way to tackle this situation?
2. Can I get legal basement permits, have the basement built to code without a kitchen, and then go to the city to convert it to personal use?

This is what the city's website says about short-term rentals-

"You can host a short-term rental in a secondary suite or laneway suite, as long as the suite is your principal residence.
A secondary suite is a self-contained and separate living accommodation where food preparation and sanitary facilities are provided for the exclusive use of the occupants. This is located within a larger house (for example, a basement apartment).
A laneway suite is a self-contained residential unit located on the same lot as a larger house, and generally located in the rear yard. A laneway suite must be next to a public laneway.
If you reside in the main portion of house, you are not permitted to separately short-term rent the secondary suite or laneway suite." - https://www.toronto.ca/community-people ... ors-hosts/
3 replies
Sr. Member
Dec 3, 2019
696 posts
680 upvotes
Ontario
If you renovate the basement and it passes building code inspection + electrical code inspection that's really all there's to it.
There's no need to convert unless it was registered as a separate address previously.

Putting in a kitchen and bathroom in the basement doesn't automatically make it a separate unit.

I'm assuming you want to find a loophole in the "short-term rental" laws in order to Airbnb your basement. In which case instead of omitting something major like basement kitchen, I would just omit something minor like leaving a cavity (not putting in a door) between the basement and the main floor.
Therefore the basement unit is "self-contained" according the "short-term rental" laws but still legal as far as building code is concerned.
Deal Addict
Jan 2, 2021
2077 posts
3451 upvotes
I think the bigger issue is that you can't advertise your space as a separate unit on Airbnb. Guests filter on that stuff and it might affect the prices you can charge.

Personally as a guest I would rather be missing a kitchen than a separation door... You can always put a plug-in induction cooker, microwave and mini-fridge and that would be sufficient for 99% of the guests...
Newbie
Aug 3, 2022
16 posts
2 upvotes
I am planning to do all the rough-ins and for now a small kitchenette with a microwave, sink, and a coffee machine. but without a stove. I am under the impression that the personal basement and legal basement permits are 2 different types of permits issued by the city. I want the contractor to follow all the codes of the legal basement such as 30 min fire separation, an egress apart from the side entrance, etc. but do a personal use basement. I want to make my future life easy by making sure I can retrospectively get the basement approved by the city for rental with minimal to no expense. When I move out I will want to rent out 2 floors separately in the future and I want to make sure I am legally able to do that with the basement unit. (of course, I will convert the kitchenette into a kitchen at that time)

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