Hi,

Could anyone tell me what makes a basement "legal"?

We're moving into our new house at the beginning of January and it has a large basement which is fitted out to be able to rent out. We don't need this space and would like a bit of income from it if possible.

I'm just not sure what you have to do to make it "legal" and don't want to end up in trouble.

We're very close to Victoria uni, so would hope to get a student in there.

Why do you want to make it legal?

What you should do if you're serious about this is get in touch with the city and what code says. They'll have inspectors. Also a reputable builder would know. You would probably have to apply for a building permit etc to bring the basement up to code. Are basement suites even legal there? It might not be an option. It's quite common for them to be illegal but be rented out anyway - no one seems to care.

can i just say before you rent your basement out, DON'T. This is the one thing i go to day in day out, problems with people in rented basements. big houses, small houses. expensive houses, crappy shacks. nice areas, crap areas. students, bikers, accountants, married, single, young, old, male, female and everything in between. if you can imagine mr strange from strangeville, i've met him/her/it and kicked them out of a rented basement. every time its the same story, "they seemed so nice" "they promised they would pay" "they said they would not have any more large parties where they were all stoned" nightmare.

I've seen some for sale with "legal" basements so I assume so.

Perhaps you're right I should maybe speak to the local offices... a few people have told me not to do that and to ask as few questions as possible! Or I could try the "who cares" approach and see how that works.

It has windows and a door to the outside. I'll work out the website and see what I can work out.

Was also wondering if anyon had rented one out and how it had worked out?

Ugh! I'll show my husband that, that will sure put him off!

listen to those people. If the city gets wind of your plans you'll have to go legal or not rent it out.

my neighbours both rent out their basements. it can work really well, but there are certain things you should do to minimise your chances of getting a bad tenant/having the power to get rid of them. I have to go right now, but i'll be back later with the deets. actually I think I'll PM you

obviously its not all basements. but i do seem to spend a disproportionate amount of time on lowlife who have somehow managed to weedle there way into basement suites unbeknownst to the otherwise seemingly normal people upstairs. but greed can be a wonderful blindfold sometimes i suppose.

Sounds like the tales I hear about renting in Ontario. I wouldn't touch it there, but I have a duplex here that I rent out (not the same as a basement, granted) and the tenants have been mostly great. They seem almost grateful to be able to rent the place. One's regularly late with rent but she always comes through and she's long term. I'd rather have that inconvenience than finding new tenants.

Kijiji is a good way to advertise and get an idea of the availability/rents of other places.

but this is different, in that i take it you do not live in the duplex with them?

Its is also possible to void your insurance cover if you rent out your basement, without the necessary permits and without informing your insurance company.

That's right...that's what I tried to convey with my reference to it not being the same as renting a basement.

I don't know if the sort of tenant one gets for a basement is any different to a 'regular' tenant.

I was just trying to highlight that renting experiences seem to differ hugely from one province to another.

i'm sure they do, and i would say that the renters of a house, duplex or otherwise are very different to the neanderthals.

the reason i make the distinction is this. when renting a home, whatever form it takes to someone, once you have left them with it thats that. when they live directly under you, with every fart, argument, toilet flush, smoked joint and orgasm funneled through the air vents it can get very wearing very quickly. thats when the trouble starts and thats just one little example.

Thanks all for your replies. I suppose we're going to have to just get in there and decide what to do. Maybe we'll end up using it ourselves for something or other.

if you do rent, it would be nice of you to post an update in a few months to give others considering it some perspective.