essex mobile homeowners feel "trapped" after rents raised
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essex, thursday, july 2, 2025 - sarah battersby said she has turned her mobile home at the hidden creek condominium community in mcgregor to the bank after being unable to sell it since september. (brian macleod/windsor star)
the head of an essex mobile home residents association says residents are “trapped” in their homes because recent land-lease increases that take effect when the homes change ownership have made them difficult to sell, even after dropping the listing price.
“the people here are trapped. and that’s the truth of it,” reg major, head of the hidden creek community residents association in mcgregor, which straddles the boundary between essex and amherstburg, told the windsor star. “all of us, everybody in this park that lease land, are trapped here because of this increase in the rent.”
the town of essex held public meetings earlier this year to hear from residents at viscount estates on victoria avenue in essex centre and hidden creek residences in mcgregor. about 107 people showed up in mcgregor and 78 in essex centre. together, the communities have about 875 homes.
“we gave them a vote at the end of the meeting. they all said yes, it’s a concern. please help us,” essex mayor sherri bondy told essex county council at a july 16 meeting.
residents in the two communities typically own their mobile homes, or pay a mortgage on them, and lease the land on which the homes sit.
sarah battersby said she has turned her mobile home at the hidden creek condominium community in mcgregor to the bank after being unable to sell it since september. (brian macleod/windsor star)
brian macleod
/
windsor star
sarah battersby, a single mother of two children, recently “surrendered my house to the bank,” after being unable to sell her mobile home in hidden creek since september.
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“i put the house up for sale september 26 last year … it’s still up for sale,” after dropping the asking price from $219,900 to $149,000, battersby told the star.
the issue, according to essex councillors and residents, is recent land-lease increases, and in the case of hidden creek, newly invoked maintenance fees.
hidden creek is run by sunpark communities, the manufactured housing division of firm capital properties, a private equity real estate firm.
viscount estates is run by compass communities, which says it is one of the largest manufactured housing companies in canada, with more than 12,000 sites.
battersby bought her mobile home in 2022 and moved in with her two children. but she ran into health problems — she suspects long covid — and ended up on long-term disability, which has since ended.
while her land lease — about $675 a month — can only be increased by $50 per year, mobile homeowners have also recently had a maintenance fee of $140 a month added to their costs.
battersby and other hidden creek residents received notice from their landlords that when they sell their homes, the next owners will pay $895 per month to lease the land. add property taxes, possibly a mortgage to buy the home and the new maintenance fee, and some buyers aren’t interested, she said.
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she couldn’t carry the extra maintenance fees and has been unable to sell her home, so she’s walking away, moving back to a property on a family farm with her two children.
reg major, pictured outside his mobile home at hidden creek condominium community in mcgregor with his wife laurie, said residents are having a hard time selling their mobile homes after the landowners increased the land lease for new buyers. (brian macleod/windsor star)
brian macleod
/
windsor star
major said homeowners have no way out.
his own lease is about $400 per month, plus about $70 in taxes. but with the added $140 maintenance fee, which began in the spring, and a land lease of $895 per month for the next owners, he thinks costs are too high for potential purchasers if he chooses to sell it.
essex coun. kim verbeek said people at the two meetings indicated they struggle with the higher costs in a type of home that’s considered affordable housing in ontario.
neither the town of essex nor essex county has any jurisdiction over the properties because they are privately owned. raising lease prices is also not uncommon.
“after the one meeting, a number of individuals approached me who were trying to sell their parents’ place,” said verbeek. “they couldn’t afford to keep it up because when their parent passed, the land rent jumped up to $800, $900.
“so there are families and individuals who are losing their homes because of this, because they can’t sell, or they have to give it away for a dime.”
bondy has tracked home sales at the two mobile home parks since mid-march.
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some homeowners have dropped their asking price twice since residents at hidden creek learned of the $895 monthly leasing fee, bondy said, following a discussion on the issue at essex county council july 16. several are reportedly asking tens of thousands of dollars less.
leased land for homes at viscount estates is said to have increased to about $650 per month.
a phone call to sunpark was answered by firm capital. but no response to the star’s inquiries through calls and an email were received by press time.
a statement from compass communities said recent rent increases are a result of costs and investments the company is making in the communities.
“compass is committed to supporting safe, welcoming neighbourhoods and expanding access to attainable housing,” the company said in an email to the star. “recent market rent adjustments, made in accordance with applicable tenant legislation when a new lease is signed following a resident’s departure, reflect both rising costs and our ongoing investment in community improvements such as upgraded roads, lighting, and recreational facilities.
“we remain focused on fair pricing and stability for residents, with ontario’s rent control regulations in place for added protection. we are tracking these developments carefully. encouragingly, we continue to see homes in our community retain their value, with steady turnover and residents able to sell when they choose.”
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the town of essex sent a letter to premier doug ford in june 2024, noting residents “are losing out on the value of their assets because their home is losing resale value.”
mpp anthony leardi (pc — essex) said the solution is straightforward. he sent notices to residents and an email to essex county council july 15 explaining what residents should do to address the situation.
leardi said residents who sell their homes can ask the landlord to sign an “assignment of tenancy,” which transfers the current lease to the new homeowners, avoiding the increase sought by the mobile home parks’ owners.
mobile home parks with leased land are governed by the residential tenancies act of 2006. under the act, landlords can’t refuse to assign tenancy to the new owner unless the ontario landlord and tenant board determines that the landlord’s grounds for refusing consent are reasonable.
“the purchaser benefits from a cap on rent, and the vendor benefits by making the property more desirable,” leardi’s email said. “all they have to do is sign the form, and the rent is capped. it’s simple.”
but residents selling their homes must list the new, higher lease fee at hidden creek and at viscount, which may scare off potential buyers, said bondy in an interview after the essex county july 16 meeting.
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“if you’re a buyer, are you even going to look at a place that has $900 a month just for fees?” she asked.
“they’re not even going to go to the open house. they see the details that are posted in the listing and then they leave.”
major wants the province to make potential buyers eligible for the assignment of tenancy so they can have some certainty about costs. and he wants local politicians to raise awareness of the issue at queen’s park, since it’s a provincewide concern.
major said he has heard that fighting the issue in court could cost between $300,000 and $500,000.
“that’s an impossible burden on hundreds of mostly low-income retirees, families and seniors,” major said during a presentation to essex county council july 16.
major said leardi explained the assignment of lease provision in a meeting in leardi’s amherstburg office, but he said residents are unlikely to get permission from the company to do that.
“you have to get their permission to do it” from toronto — firm capital’s head office, major said. “will i get that permission?”
kingsville-based realtor judy hurtubise, who said she has sold about 40 mobile homes at hidden creek, said in practice, the assignment of tenancy doesn’t work for mobile homeowners.
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hurtubise said she has got “a lot of grief from people” since the lease increase for new buyers. “i feel really bad for them,” she said.
landowners must approve potential buyers, and the $895 new lease is included in that acceptance at hidden creek, said hurtubise. attempts to include an assignment of tenancy do not always work, she said.
“we’ve tried that. they say they own the park… if you put that in the agreement, they just turn down the purchaser.”
mobile homes sold well until the lease increase, she said.
“up until that jump to $1,000 a month (including maintenance fees at hidden creek), they were selling like crazy, because they’re the perfect place for people that want to retire.”
bondy is meeting with the essex county real estate association’s affordable housing task force in september, and there are plans to seek a meeting with leardi and the association of municipalities of ontario with the goal of getting the land-lease property issue onto the provincial government’s agenda.
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