Michael Ruge on Rent-to-Own and the Housing Crisis

For someone who has spent years renting, the hardest part isn’t always making a monthly housing payment.

Sometimes it’s knowing that the payment isn’t moving them any closer to owning a home.

That frustration becomes especially important during a Housing Crisis in which many younger people have started to doubt whether homeownership will ever be possible.

Michael Ruge believes longer-term rent-to-own housing can provide another route.

In Building Hope in Housing, he describes a 170-suite project designed around a 10-year rent-to-own model. It is one example of how his team is trying to increase housing supply while creating a more realistic path towards ownership.

Why Traditional Timelines Can Be Difficult

Rent-to-own isn’t a new idea.

The problem, according to Ruge, is that many arrangements operate over relatively short periods of two, three or five years.

For someone already struggling to enter the housing market, that may not be enough time.

A longer timeline changes the equation.

Ruge argues that a 10- or even 20-year period gives residents more opportunity to build equity and prepare themselves financially for ownership.

Time becomes an advantage rather than another deadline.

That matters when housing prices have moved far ahead of what many younger buyers can comfortably afford.

Making the Numbers More Accessible

Michael Ruge Building Hope in the Housing The 170-suite project described by Michael Ruge is planned to include studio units starting at $200,000.

The chapter compares that with average condominium prices on the island of approximately $350,000 to $550,000.

The units aren’t intended to be enormous.

Ruge observes that younger buyers may not necessarily want the same amount of space previous generations expected. A smaller, more affordable home can make sense for someone who values ownership and location more than extra square footage.

The objective is to keep monthly housing costs comparable with renting while allowing the resident to work towards ownership.

That’s a meaningful difference.

A person who would have been renting anyway can begin to see a possible destination at the end of those payments.

The Housing Crisis Is Also About Hope

Statistics are useful, but they can make housing feel abstract.

Canada is short millions of homes. Rents have risen. Ownership has become harder. Approval times can stretch for years.

Behind those numbers are people making decisions about their lives.

Do I keep saving?

Do I move somewhere cheaper?

Can I afford to start a family here?

Will I still be renting decades from now?

Ruge opens the chapter with the observation that some people under 40 aren’t merely saying homeownership will be difficult. They’re saying it is no longer possible.

That’s one reason a credible route from renting to owning matters.

It gives people something concrete to work towards.

Adding Supply Still Comes First

Rent-to-own alone won’t solve the Housing Crisis.

Michael Ruge is clear about the need for more housing overall.

His approach calls for thousands of developers of different sizes to create projects ranging from a few units to hundreds.

The more severe the shortage, the more important it becomes to add homes across the market.

Ruge’s team uses several approaches.

They assemble land in areas expected to accommodate greater density. They keep existing houses rented while assembling sites. They work with larger developers. They have converted commercial space into housing. And they use financing structures intended to make multi-family development viable.

Rent-to-own is one piece of that larger picture.

Building Homes Where People Need Them

Location is another important feature of the 170-suite project.

The development described in the chapter is close to a university and surrounded by businesses seeking employees.

That creates an obvious connection.

People need affordable places to live.

Businesses need workers.

Workers need access to jobs.

When housing and employment are reasonably close together, the entire community can benefit.

This is why Ruge sees housing development as part of economic development rather than a completely separate issue.

Ownership Can Change the Relationship With a Home

Ruge also believes long-term rent-to-own residents may treat their homes differently because they can see themselves becoming owners.

They have a reason to take care of the property, personalise it and remain for longer.

Lower turnover can be good for residents, landlords and the wider building community.

Of course, rent-to-own isn’t automatically right for everyone. The chapter doesn’t present it as a universal replacement for conventional renting or home buying.

It’s another option.

And during a Housing Crisis, having more workable options is useful.

Creating More Routes Into Homeownership

There was a time when the standard housing path seemed straightforward: rent for a while, save a deposit and buy a home.

For many Canadians, that route has become considerably harder.

The answer doesn’t have to be giving up on ownership.

Michael Ruge’s long-term rent-to-own project suggests one alternative: give people more time, create smaller and more attainable homes, and structure housing so renters can work towards becoming owners.

It won’t eliminate Canada’s Housing Crisis.

But 170 additional homes are still 170 homes.

And for the people who eventually own them, the impact isn’t theoretical at all.

It’s a front door they can call their own.

Michael Ruge’s new book “Building Hope in the Housing – How to Solve the Rental Affordability Crisis” will be realeased this fall (2026).