By Christevie Ngoma, University of Toronto, Canada

Here is an honest review of Harrington Housing in Toronto. Toronto’s housing market in general is scary, so as a student it was definitely tough looking for an affordable place.

Harrington Housing is a global private accommodation, so you can trust that’s its legit! UofT also promote it as one of their trusted partners. And they mostly house international students so it would even be a nice place to make friends, I ended up being with 2 other girls and one was another exchange student from London. We ended up being great friends!

I booked a Flex Plus Room, this means I shared 1 bathroom and the kitchen with 2 other girls. Harrington advertises this as a “budget friendly” option which compared to Toronto I would say is right. BUT, the rent here in comparison to Manchester is much higher. To put into context, in Manchester I’m used to paying £500-£600 a month for my own bathroom and inclusive bills. This room is $1,100 and in pounds (when the exchange rate is stable) that is £780 a month (bills included).

Advantages

The accommodation is a 25 minute walk away from UofT so I didn’t really need to spend money on travel (when the weather was nice) and it’s only roughly £2 to take one train that is 20 minutes away too. There’s also a grocery store downstairs so it is definitely a practical location!

They have 24 hour security, a gym, a study room, a theatre room, a party room and a game room! The 24 hour security is nice and needed because downtown Toronto isn’t the safest place at night. And the other facilities are really useful! Even though UofT have 3 gyms free for students, it’s nice having one downstairs!

Every room has a balcony, so I had an amazing view of Toronto as I lived on the 41st floor, so it was nice living in a high rise for a year!

Disadvantages

Unfortunately Harrington does have some issues! A lot of flats (including ours) had problems to do with cockroaches or bed bugs and mould. We all shared the same experience where the company are quite bad with their communication, so it was difficult getting the problems sorted.

Most Flex Plus Rooms used to be a living room, so they do not have a proper door, wall or cupboard. This is explained on the website but take them very seriously. I did feel like my privacy was limited, luckily I lived with amazing girls so I never felt uncomfortable. But the first week was concerning living somewhere where I couldn’t lock my door. Again because it used to be a living room, it is directly opposite the kitchen and no proper wall means you can hear and smell everything. If you can afford an extra £100 to get a room with a door, I would do it just for safety and comfortability.

In conclusion, I’d give Harrington Housing a 6/10. I was lucky to live with great people who made it comfortable enough to stay, but if you can live somewhere like Tartu which is more affordable I would! I also know people who found a place to stay when they got here on Facebook Marketplace, so don’t lose hope if you are struggling!

Below are some comparisons on what was advertised on the website for my room and what I actually got. I do want to give a disclaimer that my room is weirdly bigger by luck, most Flex Plus Rooms are smaller and don’t have a random balcony like I did.