Vancouver Rental Market Discussion

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by Changing City

I'm guessing that might extend protection of purpose-built rental buildings in C-zones. That's what the "low-rise buildings along East and West Boulevards between 41st and 49th Avenues" are zoned. It's inaccurate to call them all 'affordable rentals' though - many of the demolished buildings were market co-ops that chose to sell out to developers. Almost all the rental buildings in the city - something like 90% of them, in RM-zones - are protected. There are a few in Commercial C-zones (a few on West Broadway for example, and some on East and West Boulevard) where that protection doesn't currently extend.

While the rate of demolition of rental buildings has increased in Vancouver, that's because many of the demolished units are (except in C-zones) being replaced with even more affordable rental. An example is Mirabel on Davie. That development involved the demolition of 68 rental units (although strangely, 47 were not protected because the building had been stratified). The replacement building will include 68 social housing units. They'll be given to the City of Vancouver as an air right parcel, and the City will choose a not-for-profit manager to run their units, quite independently of the other strata units. Those won't all rent at market - in fact it's unlikely any will, as the City have no mortgage to cover, just the ongoing management and maintenance.

I think you need to clarify "replaced with even more affordable rental". Do you mean more units at a similar rate as the old, or units that are even cheaper than the old?

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by whatnext

I think you need to clarify "replaced with even more affordable rental". Do you mean more units at a similar rate as the old, or units that are even cheaper than the old?

Each project has it's own mix of rents, so there's no definitive answer to that - certainly on Mirabel which is a hole in the ground. If you look at the rental agreement for the 68 units is bundled with 27 units on the next site on Davie (The Jervis), and Vancouver Native Housing Society will manage them all.

The agreement say 33 units must be rented at no more than the shelter component of Income Assistance (so $375 a month). The rest will be 'below market' - they "may be a combination of units rented at rents affordable to people who earn below the Housing Income Limits (“HILs”) as defined by BC Housing (rent geared to thirty percent (30%) of income), with rents targeting an average rent at 80% of maximum HILs, and Low end of Market (“LEM”) rents where the rents are targeted at current CMHC average area rents."

It's quite complex, and basically means that some rents will be higher (but less than market) to subsidize 33 at welfare rate (which will be less than any market rate in the area, and will allow residents who are on welfare to live in a new unit in the West End). It's the same model on other non-market housing projects owned by the City - something similar was negotiated for the new Jubilee House on Richards, and there the operators were able to use some donated funds to increase the number of units letting below HILs, and fewer at Low End of Market.

It's worth noting that the former tenants who lived in the rental units that were demolished also get first right of leasing the new units, if they choose.

[Changing City]

There's an interesting new study of Airbnb throughout Canada, that's reported in The Star. Apparently there are 300 fewer entire home, full-time listings in Vancouver, since regulations came into effect in September 2018. However, listings are up in Surrey and Richmond. According to the article, "The team’s data analysis shows that Vancouver’s regulations are among the most effective."

[Feathered Friend]

Rental woes are pushing people out of Vancouver. Here’s how we reverse the trend
By Kennedy StewartOpinion
Mon., July 22, 2019

So, I worry when people question the need for market-rental buildings in our city. Some say market rents geared to anyone above the median household income are “luxury” and should be rejected outright. But this argument is short-sighted and fails to reflect the interconnected nature of our housing market....

Home ownership used to be the default for a family like this. But thanks to runaway housing costs and a ban on apartments in 60 per cent of our city, the cheapest way to buy in most of Vancouver is often a duplex. On the eastside, duplexes currently sell for about $1.5 million, requiring an annual household income of around $335,000, not to mention having $300,000 in cash for a down payment....

In our current economic climate, purpose-built market rentals are not luxury housing. Single-family homes are luxury housing. When we replace multimillion-dollar houses with market rentals, we provide the kind of homes our workforce desperately needs but cannot find....

The entire 3 minute read linked below
https://www.thestar.com/vancouver/20...the-trend.html

[SpongeG]

I don't know where to put this so I will put it in here

22 refugees arrive in Coquitlam but more housing needed
B.C. expected to take 1,200 refugees this year, Immigrant Services Society of BC reports

Diane Strandberg / Tri-City News
JULY 22, 2019

Refugees fleeing war and homelessness continue to find homes in the Tri-Cities, according to the latest figures from a Vancouver-based refugee settlement agency.

In the first six months of the year, 22 people found homes in Coquitlam, roughly 11% of government-assisted refugees (GAR) who arrived in B.C. this year, according to the Immigrant Services Society of BC (ISSBC).

...

https://www.tricitynews.com/news/22-...ded-1.23892870

[SpongeG]

Vancouver’s incentive programs ‘absolutely necessary’ to create new rental housing

By Naoibh O'Connor, Vancouver Courier | July 25, 2019

City of Vancouver incentive programs for building rental housing have produced hundreds of rental units, but more incentives may be needed to bolster supply, according to a staff report delivered to council July 24.

The report outlined findings of studies conducted by two independent consultants — CitySpaces and Coriolis Consulting Corp. They reviewed and analyzed the rental incentive programs the city has launched over the past decade, including STIR (Short-term Incentives for Rental), Rental 100, the Affordable Housing Interim Rezoning Policy and community plans with rental incentives such as the Cambie corridor, Grandview-Woodlands, Marpole and West End plans.

...

https://biv.com/article/2019/07/vanc...ocSZAGOz_hDA0o

[retro_orange]

A Toronto landlord bought a 1 per cent stake in a house. Then, seven tenants were served eviction notices

The tenants of a semi-detached house in Toronto’s east end could be forced from their rental homes after a 1 per cent stake of the property, at a cost of $9,000, was transferred to a 20-year-old first-time homebuyer.

With that sliver of ownership, Jacky Bai Jun Liu also acquired the title of landlord and as such, seven people in two apartments in the house were informed, he would be pursuing his legal right to push them out because he intended to move into the home near Danforth and Greenwood Aves.

“It was kind of like a slap in the face,” says tenant Devon McKenzie, 24, who shares a lower-level unit with three roommates. “How does that 1 per cent give anybody any sort of right to have any say at all.”

McKenzie, with the support of her roommates, is fighting the eviction and a hearing is scheduled at the Landlord and Tenant Board for Sept 18. There, a board member must determine if it is both fair and legal for Liu, as a 1 per cent owner, to claim both apartments in the house under a part of the Residential Tenancies Act that allows landlords to evict for personal use.

A transfer document from the Land Registry Office dated June 18 shows that spouses Chiang and Chung transferred a 1 per cent interest to Liu, identified as a first-time homebuyer, worth $9,000.

The N12 notice informing the tenants that Liu planned to evicted them for personal use were also dated June 18 and is signed at the bottom by Liu. Chung is co-named as a landlord on the front of that eviction form.

Full story:
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/201...n-notices.html

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by retro_orange

Full story:
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/201...n-notices.html

Waaah, that's racist!

[misher]

Originally Posted by whatnext

Waaah, that's racist!

Not really, this is a fight between the rights of landlords and tenants. Canada is one of the few places where tenants can block the owner. In America tenants have few rights outside the contract.

[logan5]

Latest rent report from PadMapper. Burnaby is a far closer proximation to what rents are like in Metro Vancouver, and a fairer comparison to the rest of the country, as other cities study area are much bigger than Vancouver's small study area of 44 sq miles. Average rents in Metro Vancouver are likely in the same range as average rents in Metro Calgary or Ottawa. Here's a (big) chart.



https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/aver...es-august-2019

[SFUVancouver]

I'm at $1,830 for a good sized brand new two bedroom in Kelowna, so above the Padmapper numbers. The actual rent is $1,750 but there's an additional $80/month on top for underground parking (vs unbelievably cramped surface parking) and a storage locker.

[GreaterMontréal]

I don't know where they pick their stats but in Montréal, a 1 bedroom (3 ½) will cost you much less than $1400/month.
https://www.yulorama.com/combien-cou...nt-a-montreal/

$600/month for the lowest price, in Montréal-Nord
$1200/month for the highest price, in Ville-marie (Downtown)

[SpongeG]

a video from the city about rental development

• Video Link

[SpongeG]

Burnaby unveils plan to create 1,300 units of non-market housing

City wants to make a deal with BC Housing to develop seven sites in the city

Kelvin Gawley / Burnaby Now
OCTOBER 9, 2019

In an effort to get more than 1,300 units of non-market housing built in the city, Burnaby is pursuing a new deal with BC Housing.

It was revealed at a council meeting this Monday that the city has been working behind the scenes to create a new partnership with the provincial agency to increase non-market housing in the city by 25 per cent.

...

https://www.burnabynow.com/federal-e...ing-1.23972304

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

Burnaby unveils plan to create 1,300 units of non-market housing

City wants to make a deal with BC Housing to develop seven sites in the city

Kelvin Gawley / Burnaby Now
OCTOBER 9, 2019

In an effort to get more than 1,300 units of non-market housing built in the city, Burnaby is pursuing a new deal with BC Housing.

It was revealed at a council meeting this Monday that the city has been working behind the scenes to create a new partnership with the provincial agency to increase non-market housing in the city by 25 per cent.

...

https://www.burnabynow.com/federal-e...ing-1.23972304

Great to see Burnaby step up after the disastrous Corrigan years.

[SpongeG]

Burnaby pre-zones 6 city-owned lots to fast-track affordable housing

“I want this moving as quickly as I can,” mayor says

Kelvin Gawley / Burnaby Now
NOVEMBER 19, 2019

Burnaby moved to “pre-zone” six city-owned lots Monday in an effort to fast-track its plans to build some 1,300 affordable homes in partnership with senior levels of government.

The six properties scattered throughout the city could become home to thousands of non-market apartments and townhomes if the municipality successfully strikes a deal with BC Housing.

...

https://www.burnabynow.com/news/burn...LPhXQ-mhpiGfYM

[SpongeG]

Burbs and boondocks lure Vancouver investors

Price per door lower, but rents are similar and return on investment is higher

Frank O'Brien / Business in Vancouver
NOVEMBER 24, 2019


Nine-unit apartment building sold for $400,000 per door with a capitalization rate of four per cent. The average cap rate for Vancouver rental apartment buildings is 2.5%. Photo submitted


Vancouver landlords are looking to suburban markets and deeper into the boondocks to capture higher yields and escape the spiralling cost of buying and owning big-city apartment buildings.

Real estate agents say that per-door prices for apartment buildings outside the region are less than half of what they are in Metro Vancouver, yet rents are similar and capitalization rates – the annual yield – can be two to three times higher.

...

https://www.burnabynow.com/burbs-and...ors-1.24016623

[SpongeG]

3,600 rental units in pipeline in Coquitlam

City gets acknowledgement from report on rental construction in Metro Vancouver, city says incentives for developers help

Diane Strandberg / Tri-City News
NOVEMBER 22, 2019

Coquitlam is getting high marks for the number of rental units in the pipeline from The Goodman Report and the city’s manager of planning says incentives for developers are working.

With 3,632 units in 19 buildings going through city approvals or under construction, the city has the highest number of units on the horizon after Vancouver, which has 8,433 so far this year, according to the Goodman Report’s recent market analysis.

But Coquitlam saw only 102 units in two buildings completed to date in 2019, according to the report which details rental construction activity for Metro Vancouver this year.

In comparison, Port Coquitlam has 300 rental units in two buildings in the pipeline, with 300 units completed this year; and Port Moody has 692 units in six buildings approved or under construction as of November 2019.


The Goodman Report gives kudos to several municipalities — including Coquitlam, Burnaby, North Vancouver City, New Westminster, Maple Ridge and Surrey — for creating viable programs to enhance new rental supply.

“Their tenant populations will benefit immensely by gaining access to expanded rental housing choices,” the report states.

...

https://www.tricitynews.com/news/3-6...lam-1.24015466

[SpongeG]

Opinion: Rent-to-own housing solution catching on with developers

Concept is well-established in other countries, and is finally gaining traction in B.C., says Urban Development Institute boss
Anne McMullin / Urban Development Institute
NOVEMBER 26, 2019

https://www.vancourier.com/real-esta...igB421Xc62Yqx8

[SpongeG]

Burnaby adopts 'best in Canada' tenant assistance policy

Robust renter protections unanimously approved in principle
Kelvin Gawley / Burnaby Now
DECEMBER 3, 2019

Burnaby renters facing demoviction (eviction prompted by redevelopment) are now entitled to a suite of new protections that will make them the “best looked after tenants that Canada has ever seen,” according to Mayor Mike Hurley.

On Monday, city council unanimously approved a revised tenant assistance policy that closely resembles one of the key recommendations from the Mayor’s Task Force on Community Housing.

...

https://www.burnabynow.com/news/burn...9R-N3rOrTBfTNE