Vancouver Rental Market Discussion

[casper]

Petition in the works for changing the laws on renters having pets.

https://www.change.org/p/end-no-pets...tent=ex15%3Av1

[GenWhy?]

Not sure where to put this, but I've been hearing a few of projects in the Metrotown area have been proposing subsidized rental tower buildings as a part of their overall developments (subsidized rental next to their initial market structure to replace the 60's rentals they've taken over), but either being over density (FSR) already and / or the current council having no appetite, they've shut down these suggestions of additional structures of subsidized or reduced rental buildings as a method to re-house those displaced by the Downtown Burnaby, Metrotown area plan. They also just increased, after months of negotiations, their tenant relocation policy to include only an additional month's rent, and nothing more for protections or add ons, meaning it's pretty much the same and still not as good as Vancouver's.

Went to a recent Council meeting for a project, and it was yet again another gong show. Most rental anger at City Council and policies, and not really against the developments on the agenda. Activist groups still spreading misinformation, sneaking into buildings, and filling the speaker's list at council meetings.

[MIPS]

Metro is reporting that the average cost of a bathroom-less SRO apartment in the DTES is now $687/month.

The average rent of the lowest-cost housing in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside neighbourhood is now $687, leaving just $23 a month left over for people on welfare, say housing activists.

Single-room occupancy hotels, which are common in the low-income neighbourhood and are usually just one room with a shared bathroom, have provided Vancouver’s cheapest private housing for decades. But, the Carnegie Community Action Project warns in an annual report on SRO housing, rent rates for the rooms have been rapidly rising, while the total number of units is on the decline.

In 2009, privately-rented SRO rooms rented for $398, leaving $212 left over after paying rent, according to the report. Between 2016 and 2017, rents increased at the steepest rate — rising by $139 — since CCAP began compiling the report in 2008.

Factors behind the increase could include a recent welfare rate increase of $100, the general trend of steeply rising rents throughout Metro Vancouver, or landlords becoming aware that many low-income tenants are receiving rent supplements from social service agencies, according to the report authors.

CCAP’s report also lists what the group calls the “10 fastest gentrifying hotels,” with the Argyll Hotel on East Hastings Street and Abbott taking the top spot. The former SRO has been recently renovated and apartments now rent at $1,450 a month, according to the CCAP report.


http://www.metronews.ca/news/vancouv...th-report.html

I'm trying to put my head around this. In 2010 I was paying $433/month to share the top half of a "converted" older style home at 35th and Victoria with two other people. In 2012 I was sharing the top half of a Vancouver Special with three other people for $533/month at the corner of 45th and Boundary. By the time I left for the interior at the end of the year I was working 64 hours a week (four 12 hour shifts at one job and two 8 hour shifts at another) to make ends meet after taxes and insurance.
In 2016 I inquired at the Balmoral regarding room rates and it was $450/month unless you could show you were on welfare. $500 for a room without a bathroom is nuts. $685 on the high end I cannot comprehend. At that point it's cheaper to get a nasty old camper.

[GenWhy?]

Developers have gotten back their responses if their project got into the Moderate Income Rental Housing Pilot Program.

20 sites of over 50 entries were selected. My team almost bagged 1/4 of those, which are great sites that hopefully the communities through the rezoning process give us a fair chance. Looking forward to providing, in an expeditied process, more rental and 20% per project rents tied to income.

[Cmyki]

$51 rent increase after 1 year reasonable for a 1bdrm condo?

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by Cmyki

$51 rent increase after 1 year reasonable for a 1bdrm condo?

Depends on the original rent.

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/h...tial-tenancies

That site is your friend.

[SpongeG]

Vancouver real estate is so crazy construction workers have to live under Skytrain tracks

by MACLEAN'S

Posted Mar 20, 2018 4:40 pm PDT


Mike Diddy, at his home in the lee of Vancouver’s Skytrain tracks (Photo: Jennifer Osborne)


VANCOUVER – Kevin Royes lives the Vancouver real estate economy. At the end of a long day landscaping at a newly-built 18,000-square-foot mansion in West Vancouver, he catches a ride home to his 1973 Dodge Sportsman in a pop-up RV park tucked away in an East Vancouver industrial area.

He is one of a number of construction industry workers illegally camped within sight of downtown high-rises, which on a sunny afternoon gleam in the distance like unattainable beacons of wealth.

There are about 20 inhabited vehicles parked beneath the Skytrain line near Glen Drive. But in Vancouver and North Vancouver, where rents are among Canada’s highest and vacancy rates less than one per cent, there are at least seven other pockets where people live full-time in vehicles tucked behind shopping malls or big box stores. Some, like Royes and Mike Diddy, whose home is a converted school bus, are employed in the region’s booming construction trade. Others are engaged in less savoury lines of work and others still are pensioners down on their luck.


“There’s definitely some riff-raff, some seediness,” says Diddy, 38. “But there are also people who don’t want to throw their money away in a cramped little apartment with a view of a back alley.”

...

http://www.news1130.com/2018/03/20/v...ytrain-tracks/

[whatnext]

Yet another example why renting is a tenuous option in Vancouver, another bogus renoviction. When after 10 years, what you consider as home can b yanked out from underneath you. Follow the money, owner, unavailable for comment, lives in Jameson House but yup sure enough at 1:27 of the clip it becomes clear:

https://globalnews.ca/news/4174150/v...ion-kitsilano/

[retro_orange]

Originally Posted by whatnext

Yet another example why renting is a tenuous option in Vancouver, another bogus renoviction. When after 10 years, what you consider as home can b yanked out from underneath you. Follow the money, owner, unavailable for comment, lives in Jameson House but yup sure enough at 1:27 of the clip it becomes clear:

https://globalnews.ca/news/4174150/v...ion-kitsilano/

If that building manager continues to speak to tenants in that manner; shes gonna say the wrong thing to the wrong person one day...

[Changing City]

In the Courier "Vancouver announced Friday morning that seven city-owned sites will be developed by Community Land Trust. Combined, the seven sites, which are located at various locations throughout the city, will bring around 1,000 new affordable rental units targeted at individuals and families earning between $30,000 and $80,000 annually."

"City council this week approved a contract with Community Land Trust. The organization was chosen as the successful proponent after the Vancouver Affordable Housing Agency sent out a request for proposals to develop the seven sites. The trust will design, build, finance, operate and maintain the sites. Once the developments are complete, non-profit operators, such as Atira Women’s Resource Society, McLaren Housing Society and Fraserview Housing Co-operative, will partner with the Community Land Trust to manage the buildings."

"Rents in the buildings will be closely tied to the income levels of residents, ranging from shelter rates of $375 up to $1,800 to $2,000 a month for the larger family units. Robertson said rent for a single individual making in the range of $30,000 a year would be around $750 a month."

Some of the projects have already been announced; (like 177 W Pender), others are new

"The seven sites are located throughout the city with three downtown — at the corner of Burrard and Davie streets, Seymour and Davie, and in the 100 block of West Pender Street. Another two on Vanness Avenue in the Renfrew-Collingwood neighbourhood and at 1001 Kingsway in Kensington-Cedar Cottage. And two more in the East Fraser Lands area — 140 units on Pierview Crescent and 372 units on Marine Way."

[GenWhy?]

Great announcement and glad the weather held up for it. Really looking forward to a few of these going forward, especially the Qmunity site.

[whatnext]

This certainly great news and a good first step. I wonder why the city just didn’t include the Concord site on Beach Crescent, rather than get sued over it. Is that case still going to court?

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by whatnext

This certainly great news and a good first step. I wonder why the city just didn’t include the Concord site on Beach Crescent, rather than get sued over it. Is that case still going to court?

If you mean the 601 Beach Crescent site, by Granville Bridge, the City put the site on the market in June 2016, Concord sued in August 2016, alleging that land they transferred to the city for use for "charitable public purposes" would now be developed into high-rise condos that would compete with the developer's own housing projects. In November 2016 the City announced they had sold the site to Pinnacle International Inc. As part of the sale, Pinnacle agreed to develop and transfer "turnkey" 152 units of affordable housing to the City on that site.

It was a complex financial deal: to quote:
•$20 million: base purchase price
•$44.5 million (estimated): design, financing, and development costs to provide the “turnkey” 152 affordable housing units to the City of Vancouver
•An adjustment price of $365 per every additional buildable square foot above the current zoning that may be approved as part of a future rezoning and development of the property. For example:
•If 200,000 additional buildable square feet were approved at rezoning, the adjustment price would be an additional $73-million payment to the City of Vancouver
•If 350,000 additional buildable square feet were approved at rezoning, the adjustment price would be an additional $127.75-million payment to the City of Vancouver

These amounts are only examples and the actual amount of the adjustment price will depend on the approval of an application to rezone the property for future development, which is subject to a public hearing.

Since then no rezoning has (yet) been submitted. There doesn't seem to be any record of the case coming to court. The sale didn't seem to include any time limits, but the site is valued at over $20m and presumably the City are getting taxes from it as Pinnacle haven't built a 'tax avoidance park'. Frances Bula reported the sale, and suggested Pinnacle might have a get-out clause, but she couldn't get any confirmation when she ran the story. Presumably given market changes in the past year or two the City would get even more if they offered it for sale again.

[whatnext]

Thanks for the info.

[whatnext]

wrong thread

[Klazu]

Oh wow. I frequently see rentals being falsely advertised with photos that are a decade old, but this one really takes the prize home. What an amazing unobstructed view from this sub-penthouse!!

https://vancouver.craigslist.ca/van/...610574394.html

[whatnext]

I know there has been discussion about Padmapper not being a reliable tool, but I found this interesting (and good news):

The cost to rent both one- and two-bedroom apartments remained flat in Vancouver year-over-year in August, according to new PadMapper data, which includes median rents for all homes that are currently available to rent or vacant and does not include those homes that are already rented out..

...Vancouver remains the country’s most expensive spot for two-bedroom rents at $3,200, on average, but while Vancouver has seen flat growth over the past year, Toronto rents are growing by leaps and bounds. The average one-bedroom rent in Canada’s largest city increased 15.7% in the 12 months to April, and the average rent for two-bedroom apartments rose 14.3% to $2,800. This paints quite a different story than what was seen in January 2017, in which two-bedroom rents in Vancouver were 60% higher than in Toronto ($3,150 compared with $1,970, respectively)...

[Klazu]

Originally Posted by whatnext

[I]The cost to rent both one- and two-bedroom apartments remained flat in Vancouver year-over-year in August, according to new PadMapper data. [...] Vancouver remains the country’s most expensive spot for two-bedroom rents at $3,200, on average.

I am (thankfully) not on the market every single year, but prices have certainly increased significantly from 2015. $3,200 sounds like a good average based on what I am seeing, but this is for tiny 700-800 sqft "two-bedroom" condos. I constantly see such posted even for $4,000 which is just ridiculous.

I really have to wonder how could 90% of people pay such rents, as that is a lot of money. My budget is a bit higher, but even then I feel that prices have escaped the reality. Just how many prospective tenants can there be to rent livable size units in some random 20-year-old no-name building for $5000-6000/month?

I really hope empty homes tax gets raised to 5% to put some motivation into greedy landlords...

[Metro-One]

Originally Posted by whatnext

I know there has been discussion about Padmapper not being a reliable tool, but I found this interesting (and good news):

The cost to rent both one- and two-bedroom apartments remained flat in Vancouver year-over-year in August, according to new PadMapper data, which includes median rents for all homes that are currently available to rent or vacant and does not include those homes that are already rented out..

...Vancouver remains the country’s most expensive spot for two-bedroom rents at $3,200, on average, but while Vancouver has seen flat growth over the past year, Toronto rents are growing by leaps and bounds. The average one-bedroom rent in Canada’s largest city increased 15.7% in the 12 months to April, and the average rent for two-bedroom apartments rose 14.3% to $2,800. This paints quite a different story than what was seen in January 2017, in which two-bedroom rents in Vancouver were 60% higher than in Toronto ($3,150 compared with $1,970, respectively)...

Wow... so the average rent for a two bedroom in Vancouver is 110% my current monthly salary...

Luckily where I currently live my two bedroom apartment only costs 1/5 of my monthly salary.

Either everyone in Vancouver now makes around $15000 a month or something is really out of whack.

Every time I want to move back I read these stats and I feel I can stay at least a few more years in Asia...

[SpongeG]

Rent is really expensive in Australia. I saw one listing for a one bedroom in Melbourne and it said $750, which I thought wasn't that bad but then found out they pay rent down there weekly so its $750 a week which is $3000 per month.

I spoke to someone and he said yes you have to pay your rent to your landlord every friday, they had worked it out that they would pay it every two weeks or twice a month instead of once a week. And in speaking with him and others they get paid every thursday, which was the standard way of pay. I guess its easier to budget that way perhaps but totally different system than I am used to here.