VancouverMETRO VANCOUVER NEWS
Greens leader Emily Lowan says B.C. is “reclaiming” a questionable rent title
BC Greens leader Emily Lowan says B.C. is again the country’s most expensive province for apartment and condo rents, though the party’s cited report briefly placed Nova Scotia first. Rentals.ca still lists three Metro Vancouver communities among Canada’s costliest rental markets.
Rents have eased in B.C. over the past couple of years, but BC Greens leader Emily Lowan is offering a less optimistic assessment than the BC NDP. The party, particularly Housing Minister Christine Boyle, often comments on rent reports from liv.rent and Rentals.ca and credits the declines to the current government’s work. After an August report, Boyle said B.C.’s overall average rents had fallen 4.5 per cent, citing efforts to increase housing supply, crack down on illegal short-term rentals and limit foreign investment in the housing market.
A BC Greens release said B.C. would reclaim the title of Canada’s most expensive province for rent. The article notes, however, that B.C. had not lost its broader standing as the most expensive place to rent. In the latest Rentals.ca report referenced by Lowan, North Vancouver, Vancouver and Burnaby were the three most expensive places to rent in Canada; Coquitlam also ranked among the top 10.
Daily Hive Urbanized received a correction notice from the BC Greens. The party said that in the report it had referenced, Nova Scotia held the top spot for apartment and condo rents from May to August, after B.C. had held it previously. Rentals.ca’s latest report nevertheless lists North Vancouver, Vancouver and Burnaby among the country’s most expensive rental markets.
“Renters in British Columbia have faced a deeply hostile environment. While Eby’s NDP has touted minor reductions in asking prices, it comes as a cold comfort when those asking prices were wildly inflated to begin with,” Lowan said in a release.
She also said the government had failed to give renters tools to benefit from the lower rents it touted. On average, one in three renters in Canada spends more than the recommended 30 per cent of monthly income on rent.
The BC Greens release said that as B.C. reclaims its position as the country’s most expensive province for apartment or condo rents, “it’s clear that we are living in the consequences of failure.” The party also criticized the BC NDP for cancelling the Community Housing Fund and failing to pass vacancy control despite being urged to do so. “British Columbians are now forced to live with the collapse of the BC NDP’s approach,” the release added.
The BC Greens have promised to restart the Community Housing Fund, build and protect 26,000 units of affordable non-market housing every year, and pass vacancy control.