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Tenants' group worried about rental situation
By Naoibh O'Connor-Staff Writer
Holding one minimum wage job just won't cut it if you want to rent in Vancouver.
A person earning $8 an hour would have to pick up two full-time jobs to cover the costs of living in a one-bedroom apartment, according to Tom Durning of the Tenants' Rights Action Coalition.
The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation reported recently the average rent on a one-bedroom suite in Vancouver rose from $759 to $774 a month. Meanwhile, the vacancy rate for apartment buildings dropped from two per cent to 1.3 per cent, despite a mad rush to buy houses and condominiums over the past couple of years.
Finding cheap housing in the city has never been easy, but Durning fears that not only is it getting harder, but aging stock means renting will get worse in the future since the cost of constructing new units will require even higher rents.
"I'm really worried about the affordability. If you pay more than 30 per cent of your income-it's simple math-it's not affordable. If you pay more than 50 per cent you're at risk for homelessness," Durning said, adding, "There hasn't been much built in the last 15 years because the economics of building rental suites just aren't there. If you wanted to build, you'd have to get $1,200 to $1,300 a month to make some money."
CMHC statistics, which are gathered annually in late October, only reflect vacancy rates in apartment buildings housing three or more units. They don't include figures from private rental accommodation in houses, basement suites and strata-title condominiums, meaning the information can be misleading.
However, Durning said the limited stats show how important the secondary rental market is. "Luckily, Vancouver legalized suites this year," he said. "They were realistic and so [were] a few other municipalities."
But such suites, as well as condo rental suites, are not considered stable housing stock since the owners may eventually decide against continuing to rent.
TRAC argues all three levels of government need to work harder on affordable housing in Vancouver. It also blames the Liberal government's revisions of the Residential Tenancy Act for contributing to the problem.
The organization maintains changes to the act make evicting tenants easier. Services to tenants have been reduced and rent increases are allowed even if a landlord does not maintain the property. "I don't know how it bodes [for the future] but I hope the federal government gets back into non-market housing for seniors with special needs and very low income families," added Durning. "But where that's going to go, I don't know."
Lynda Pasacreta, CEO of the B.C. Apartment Owners and Managers Association, agreed the CMHC statistics don't paint the true picture of renting in Vancouver. The data comes from a poll conducted in late October, asking rental property owners whether there are any vacancies on that particular day. That figure could have changed by Nov. 1, if a tenant had given notice and the suite hadn't been rented out yet.
Pasacreta said the actual vacancy rate is close to twice the 1.3 per cent figure, which was borne out in another statistic collected by the CMHC as part of a pilot project this year. It indicated the "availability rate" for apartments was 2.3 per cent. "[The availability rate] is a more true picture of the market and it's usually double what the CMHC says." Pasacreta said.
Pasacreta maintains rents are reasonable for the area. In 2004, she noted, landlords could have raised their rents by 4.6 per cent, but the average increase was below inflation at two per cent. She said the market, not government regulation, determines rents.
"There's all range of rents available and really the rents are very low because there's been very minimal increases over the last 15 years," Pasacreta said. "We've been increasing rents under inflation for the last 15 years because it's what the market will bear." Pasacreta maintains a tenant might need a couple of minimum wage jobs if they want a place in Kitsilano, but there are many other affordable communities in the Lower Mainland and even in Vancouver's East Side-tenants just have to look.
Although secondary suites and the condo rental market have contributed to rental stock in recent years, the latter market can't be counted on in the future because of a section in the Strata Property Act. Al Kemp CEO of the Rental Owners and Managers Association of British Columbia said the Act allows strata corporations to pass bylaws restricting or prohibiting rentals of strata lots. The bylaw doesn't apply to a unit until one year after it's passed and one year after the current tenant leaves.
If the unit was initially designated as a rental unit, such a bylaw also isn't in effect until the first purchaser sells or the expiry date the owner or developer stated in a rental disclosure statement, whichever comes first, Kemp added.
The complex legislation also covers condos designated as a rental unit under the old Condominium Act.
posted on 01/04/2005
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