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An elderly downtown couple says they\u2019re shocked and upset that the city has approved a\u00a0four-storey duplex next door to their three-story Victorian home, saying the new building will block one window and render their fireplaces useless because of its size.<\/p>\n
Real estate experts say the problems facing Bill and Carol Martin \u2014 and homeowners in many other Toronto neighbourhoods where multiplexes are sprouting due to policies intended to add much-needed housing to the city \u2014 are more than just cosmetic. They’re affecting property values as well.<\/p>\n
The Martins have lived in their Strachan Avenue house for almost 50 years, and they say they use their fireplace almost every day during colder months. But that will have to end when the new duplex is built next door, they say, because provincial rules stipulate that chimneys must be at least two feet above neighbouring structures.<\/p>\n
The planned duplex, city documents show, will be more than 15 metres high \u2014 far higher than their roughly 11-metre tall home.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re so frustrated,\u201d Carol Martin told CBC Toronto. \u201cThis affects just so many aspects of our lifestyle.\u201d<\/p>\n
Multiplexes part of city push to build housing<\/p>\n
In May, 2023 the city cleared the way for builders to erect multiplexes containing up to four units in residential neighbourhoods city-wide, without applying for rezoning. Two years later, six-plex\u00a0 projects in East York, the old City of Toronto, and north Scarborough were added to the list.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s all part of a city-wide push to meet its provincially-mandated goal of 285,000 new homes built by 2032. So far this year about 6,500 new homes have been built, city statistics show.<\/p>\n
The city\u2019s multiplex tracker shows 8,600 new multiplex units have been completed since 2022, with almost 3,000 new builds underway, many of them in neighbourhoods that have until now been limited to single-family houses.<\/p>\n
Next to the Martins’ house, approval to re-build the neighbouring one-storey cottage into a four-storey duplex \u2014 with no setback required between the two lot lines \u2014 was granted as a series of minor variances by the city\u2019s Toronto and East York Committee of Adjustment in the fall of 2023.<\/p>\n
The approved development will butt up directly against the rear half of the Martin\u2019s home up to the second story, covering one window completely.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The couple says they\u2019re aware that committee of adjustment decisions can be appealed. But they say they missed the two-week appeal window because they were coping with a family illness.<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1790337853_54_default.jpg\")
The Martins’ home, on the left, will be overshadowed when the cottage next door is replaced with a four-storey duplex whose walls will abut part of their house. (Mike Smee\/CBC)<\/p>\n
Don Allen, who owns the soon-to-be demolished cottage next to the Martins, declined to be interviewed by CBC Toronto, saying only, \u201cwe\u2019re doing everything to code, and trying to be a good neighbour.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to a letter sent to the Martins by Allen\u2019s architect, he offered to replace the lost window, and to compensate the Martins \u201cwithin reason\u201d for any renovations the Martins may need to do to their chimney to render it legally usable again.<\/p>\n
Bill Martin told CBC Toronto they turned down the compensation because they felt the term \u201cwithin reason\u201d wouldn’t cover the extensive extension the chimney would require to bring it up to code.<\/p>\n
New housing needed, old homes losing value: experts<\/p>\n
Dan Cowling, an architect and friend of the Martins who represented them at the committee of adjustment meeting, says Allen is doing nothing wrong.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe neighbour complied with all the rules,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s the city that\u2019s making a mistake here.\u201d<\/p>\n
David Walsh, a real estate developer who has a special interest in boosting the amount of affordable housing city-wide, says while he applauds the push to increase housing, he warns \u201cwe have to figure out what are the trade-offs between providing more density, versus being sensitive and respectful to existing homeowners.\u201d<\/p>\n
Justin Bregman, a real estate broker with Justin Bregman and Associates, says there is financial fallout for owners of homes next door to newer forms of housing.<\/p>\n
He said he’s reluctant to put a dollar figure on the drop in\u00a0 value that homes experience once a multiplex has gone up next door, but \u201cit\u2019s definitely affecting value … big time.” <\/p>\n
\u201cAm I no longer getting sun? Have I lost all my privacy?” he said. \u201cIt\u2019s sad and it\u2019s wrong, and I have sympathy, but it\u2019s going to continue.\u201d<\/p>\n
City staff wouldn\u2019t speak with CBC Toronto directly, but said in a statement building and demolition permits for property next to the Martins have already been issued.<\/p>\n
The statement also points out that the under the building code, it’s up to the Martins \u2014 not Allen \u2014 to ensure that the existing chimney meets safe height regulations, once the new building has been completed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 5 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":909084,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-909083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/909083","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=909083"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/909083\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/909084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=909083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=909083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=909083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}