What is a medium term rental?

A medium term rental is a furnished home rented for a month or more at a time. The guest arrives with a suitcase rather than a moving truck, stays anywhere from one month to a year, and pays a single monthly rate that typically covers rent, utilities, and internet. In Toronto, most of these guests are working professionals: people relocating for a new role, consultants assigned to a project, physicians on a hospital placement, crews attached to a film production.

The category sits between the two arrangements most owners already know, the nightly rental and the unfurnished lease, and it borrows from each. It has grown quietly, so many owners have never priced their own unit against it. This note defines the category, explains why it exists, and describes the owners it suits.

What counts as a medium term rental

The definition rests on practical features rather than a legal category.

• Furnished and equipped. The home is ready to live in on day one, down to linens, kitchenware, and a desk to work from.
• Stays of a month or more. Most stays run several months, and some extend toward a year. In Toronto, 28 consecutive nights is the meaningful line, for reasons covered below.
• A monthly rate. Rent is quoted by the month and usually includes utilities and internet, so the guest signs one agreement and pays one bill.
• Screened guests. Because someone is living in the home for months, screening looks closer to a landlord's process than to a hotel front desk.

Where it sits between a nightly rental and a lease

A nightly rental is a hospitality business, with constant turnover and pricing that changes by the day. Toronto restricts short term rentals, meaning stays under 28 consecutive nights, to a host's principal residence with city registration, so for an investment condo the nightly model is generally not available. Stays of 28 nights or more sit outside those rules, though owners should check the current requirements because they change.

A long term lease sits at the other end: unfurnished, a year at a time, with the tenant bringing their own furniture and the owner accepting the market rate on the day of signing. The medium term rental takes the furnished flexibility of hospitality and pairs it with the monthly rhythm of a lease. We compare the models directly in medium term versus short term rentals in Toronto and in medium term rentals versus a long term lease.

Why the category exists

The category exists because a specific group of guests is served poorly by both extremes. A consultant on a five month engagement cannot reasonably furnish an apartment for it, and no hotel room is a comfortable home for that long. A physician on placement along the hospital corridor needs a quiet, fully equipped home near work for a defined stretch of time. Companies relocating staff want somewhere their people can land on day one. These guests pay for that convenience willingly, tend to treat homes well, and often return or refer colleagues, a pattern we describe in who actually stays in furnished monthly rentals.

On the supply side, the model rewards owners whose units sit near the demand: the financial district, the hospital corridor, the universities, the studios. A furnished unit in the right location can serve this demand continuously, and the monthly premium over an unfurnished lease reflects what the guest is saving in furniture, setup, and commitment.

Which owners the model suits

In our experience, the model suits owners who want more income than a lease produces without running a nightly operation themselves. It fits a downtown or midtown condo near employment, an owner who cares about the condition of the unit, since furnished homes are cleaned frequently and checked between stays, and an owner who values flexibility, because the home is never committed for a year at a time. It also suits owners between plans, who may sell in a few years and want the unit earning and presentable in the meantime.

It is not the answer for everyone. A unit far from where corporate demand concentrates may do better on a conventional lease, and an owner who prizes simplicity above income may prefer one tenant and one signature a year.

Bbyrent manages Toronto homes on exactly this model: we design, furnish, and manage units for stays of a month or more, mostly for corporate guests, for 15% of collected rent. Across our portfolio, occupancy runs at 98% and owners have been paid 1.42 times market rent after fees, though every unit is different, which is why we model each property before accepting it. The modeling is free, and the waitlist is where it begins.

Frequently asked questions

How long is a medium term rental?

By definition, a medium term rental runs a month or more. Most stays last several months, and some extend toward a year when a placement is renewed. In Toronto, 28 consecutive nights matters as a threshold, because stays of that length or longer sit outside the city's short term rental rules.

Are medium term rentals allowed in Toronto?

Toronto's short term rental rules apply to stays under 28 consecutive nights and restrict them to a host's principal residence with city registration. Stays of 28 nights or more sit outside those rules. Condo buildings can set their own minimum stay lengths, and city rules change, so check the current municipal requirements and your building's bylaws before listing. This is context rather than legal advice.

Is a medium term rental more profitable than a lease?

It typically earns more than an unfurnished lease on the same unit, because the guest is paying for furniture, utilities, flexibility, and a home that works immediately. Across our portfolio, owners have been paid 1.42 times market rent after fees, though the premium depends on the unit, the location, and how the home is furnished and managed, and no result can be guaranteed.