For many Greater Toronto Area homeowners, the most valuable room in the house may be the one below ground. Renting out a basement or part of a detached or semi-detached home could earn between about $1,700 and $2,400 a month, depending on location, according to a 2025 analysis by digital real estate platform Wahi. That translates to roughly $20,400 to $28,800 a year in added income, potentially increasing the amount a buyer qualifies to borrow by up to $100,000 to $200,000.
Top-Earning Communities for Basement Rentals
Wahi analyzed median asking rents for one- and two-bedroom lease listings from 2025 for single-family homes across the GTA. The highest asking rents were concentrated in Toronto. Old Toronto led the region at $2,400 a month, followed by East York at $2,273, York at $2,195, and Etobicoke at $2,150. Oakville, at $2,000 a month, was the only community outside the City of Toronto among the top five.
According to a 2025 survey from Wahi on what home seekers want in a property, one in five Ontarians say they are looking for features such as a separate entrance. For some buyers, renting out a secondary suite is becoming part of the financial equation that makes owning a single-family home work.
Rental Yields and Home Prices
But the rent is only part of the equation. The same communities that generate the most monthly income also tend to come with some of the highest purchase prices. Oakville, for example, had the highest median sale price for a single-family home with an apartment, at $1.61 million. Richmond Hill and Old Toronto were also among the communities where the median price reached at least $1.5 million.
For buyers looking to offset mortgage costs, it’s not necessarily about where you can charge the most rent but rather where the rent goes the furthest. For each GTA community, Wahi also looked at annualized rental yields (the median monthly asking rent multiplied by 12) as a percentage of the local median home price.
Oshawa, for instance, had a median monthly rent of $1,800 per month, the fourth-lowest in the GTA, but it also had the lowest median sale price in the region at $755,000. Twelve months of rent represented 2.9% of the median home price — the highest rental yield in the region. In contrast, Old Toronto had a median monthly rent of $2,400, the highest in the GTA, and a median sale price of $1,550,000. Twelve months of rent represented just 1.9% of the median home price, among the lowest rental yields in the region.
Considerations for Homeowners
Homebuyers considering renting out a portion of their home will also need to confirm whether a unit is legal, safe and properly permitted. They should understand local rules, fire-code requirements, insurance implications, tax considerations and the practical reality of becoming a landlord.
Benjy Katchen, CEO of Wahi, noted that the analysis aims to help homeowners and buyers make informed decisions. “For many GTA homeowners, a basement apartment is no longer just a nice-to-have; it’s a key part of the financial equation,” Katchen said in a statement. The analysis underscores that while some communities offer higher rents, others provide better rental yields relative to purchase prices.
