Government Interference

From Wong's article, it seems that the rental market was robust until the federal and provincial governments became involved for social reasons. I know many people who use to own and operate rental units but have stopped due to the constant red tape and changing rules put in place by governments. Access to land and labour plus no chance for an economic return has driven people away from building and owning rental units. Perhaps a review of the effects of government rules, regulations and enforcement would help the rental market. Higher interest rates might help as well.

Better rules for landlords and renters...

Thank you Tyee for this topic. It is I think a serious issue in this city that many people with a relatively decent income can't find a place to live. Or many have to spend half of their income to put roof over their head. I spend half of my income to do just that.

I also find it discriminating that people aren't allowed to bring their pet into a home. We are not talking about horses, sheeps and pigs. We are talking about cats and dogs. Many end up in the shelter because their owners had to make a choice. Something I could never do - my pets are my family and they live where I live. Period. Many pet owners are responsible people and the way they are discriminated here is kind of digusting.

It seems to me that the law protects the building owner and not the renter. Landlords seems to be able to do whatever they want to in this city. Some of us are lucky to have a decent landlord, others have the attitude of 'if you don't like it move because 100 others will be competing for that tiny hole we call 1 bedroom'.

In the next election I will be paying close attention to a party that will tackle the issue of rent affordability in this city. It has to be a win-win to both parties - renter and landlord. It cannot be one sided.

I think the long term effect of unaffordable places to live is a serious issue that has a negative effect on the community's and society's overall health.

How can anyone be a productive member of a society if they are distressed about finding an affordable place to live?

How can anybody be a

How can anybody be a productive member of a society, when the society's democratic rights to provide the chances for the productivity of its members are overruled by the profit demands of foreign institutions, legalized by dictatorial treaties, based on fraudulent theories and signed by crooked politicians ?

I started my first manufacturing business in Vancouver in 1957 with a $500. bankloan, something like $5-6,000 in today's money, and was employing a half dozen tradesmen within a few weeks.

Such small businesses were opening up all over the country, every day.

What can people do today, except beg for "jobs, jobs, jobs" from "foreign investors", at any price.

Ed Deak.

loophole

"told to vacate their suite so the building's owners could move their own families in" This loophole has existed for nearly forty years. I know this because my landlord at the time sat at our kitchen table after eating a meal which we had cooked and told us how he was going to raise our rent beyond the statutory limit and what he would do if we refused to pay. We refused, went to the Rentalsman, had a hearing, was told by the Rentalsman that he knew the landlord was lying but would uphold the eviction order anyway. We went to Premier Barrett, the leader of the opposition, engaged the services of a lawyer and tried, without success, to get that great champion of social justice, Rosemary Brown, on side. All to no avail. The system is stacked against renters, has been and always will be, until decent, reasonably priced housing is seen as a fundamental right. As if that's ever going to happen, given the stranglehold capitalists have on the economy, so much so that even so-called democratic socialists worship at the altar of free enterprise.

Give it up, Vancouverites! Your city's been bought and sold....

Time to migrate to the 'other' coast folks, and live on your own 15 acres of Cape Breton land in Nova Scotia. (Yes, Conde Nast mag calls it the most beautiful island! Didn't know that did ya??) We need your entrepreneurial spirit, your city ways, and your ideas! My place (with 15 acres (half meadow, half forest, 300 feet of waterfront on the inland sea) with a nice little four bedroom house is marketable at $160K...how d'ya like them apples? ....you could start any number of businesses here, from goat cheese, to mushroom farmer, to eel-smoker, party-fishing boat operator, or even start a vineyard! Gain independence, and be ready for the big crash when it comes......Vancouver's infrastructure will go down the tubes when it does!!....be.self sufficient NOW! Beats bitchin' about capitalism, your traitorous realtors, and the Chinese invasion! Come on, live a little, where's your spirit of adventure? ..you're only young once!!! Get out of your BC rut and head east!!

"At $850 a month, the rent

"At $850 a month, the rent Ali and her husband were paying was about average for Metro Vancouver."

Are you kidding me??! I live alone in east Van and pay $850, inclusive. They had cheap rent for Kitsilano!!

Oops.... I read a bit

Oops.... I read a bit further and saw that it did mention the average in Kitts is higher :) Got a bit ahead of myself... and I'm TOTALLY with OhCanada on the pet issue. I really lucked out with my landlords (they live in the same house) as they are pet-friendly and things have turned out wonderfully over the past three yrs. I babysit their kids, we share the veggies in the garden, and we've become good friends. We're the same age, they just have kids and a mortgage and I have a different lifestyle, but they chose me as a renter because they thought I would be "a good fit"... and I am. If more owners were as open-minded and community oriented, people would be much happier in this city.

Ed's got it right I think

Ed's got it right I think with the forced urbanization and "jobs" mentality. I can't get out of the city soon enough! I have long been reading about tiny houses and sustainable living but making that transition is difficult. With city zoning and bylaws and prices restricting options for modest housing, I think the problem of homelessness and "brain drain" in Vancouver will continue on the upswing.

Hubby and I are renters paying too much rent and looking constantly for something more affordable. As our circumstances have changed over the past few years, we have moved almost annually to find cheaper housing. We are not prepared to enslave ourselves to a mortgage or take on debt. It's utterly ridiculous the kind of debt people live with these days to own a home. Oh, except a home is no longer a home, its now an "investment" and that is why we have the problems we do in Van.

This is not Vancouver, but...

The situation can be basically the same in the Okanagan as it is in Vancouver. When jobs are available and people are coming in, landlords will maximize the rent they charge. That is, most landlords probably will. I think of myself as the exception, as I have been subsidizing tenants now for more than 40 years in the homes that I own. Some of my tenants stay for 10 to 12 years until they have accumulated enough money for a down-payment on a house...others I have had to evict because I made a bad choice. I have tried to upgrade the older of 3 homes over the years to make the heating costs easier for the tenant, but it takes time. Between taxes and upgrade costs, I don't start making any money until half the year is over. And when I have to renovate completely because of a sh**ty tenant, then I wind up losing money. One Greyhound bus driver split with his wife, and left two German Shepards inside a bedroom while he was out on the road. I learned my lesson --- no more pets, it just makes it easier on everybody, and I don't care if you think of them as part of your family. And references don't mean a damn thing, because a lot of former landlords will give a person a reference just to get rid of him. I could continue on and on about tenants who have made my life miserable. Perhaps in Vancouver you might have an excuse in being a tenant rather than making the effort to own your own home. But in most cases, it is "Landlord, Beware!" Unlike what most tenants think, the Act is far more benevolent towards the tenant than it is towards the landlord.

Going through it myself

The other day I was in the park and I overheard two sets of grandparents (taking care of their toddler grandchildren) who had run into each other. They were discussing all kinds of things, but the main thing I heard is that one of them said (while chuckling) 'we are going to build a laneway house, then live in it, then rent out our house for lots of money!'

Oh ha, ha, I thought. Having been going through the househunting process recently (I still am, officially), I took pause to think about this comment. These are the elite that have the freedom to joke about these things, not caring at all how many people in this city (even people with decently paying jobs) cannot afford to live here. THEY, however, can afford to laugh it off.

At any rate, through much discussion and exploration, I have realized that there is no where for renters to actually come together and discuss their experiences. I am thinking that there needs to be a forum/website where we can do this and would like to set one up (along the same lines as Yelp or Trip Advisor).

If anyone has comments or knows of any sites like this perhaps you can comment here.

It's the NWO

I hate to say it but the days of caring what happens to our fellow citizens are in the rear view and fading fast.The right in the whole of North America has done such a good job of convincing us that a job is a privilege and a decent wage something that the corporations just can't pay without losing market share that no one joins unions anymore and people actually think unions are just scams.The government has us into wars and is building up the armed forces at the expense of our way of life and common sense.Our neighbour to the south will do whatever they will do and what the hell are we doing in Afghanistan?Priorities are so skewed that people are getting harder and colder and are easily frightened by a government that uses the propaganda machine with reckless abandon and no time for the truth.The feeling seems to be that it's every one for themselves and the hell with the consequences.This is all exactly how Stephen Harper's divide and conquer machine rules and holds power and the fact that he has almost 40% of the population fooled is frightening.I was around when the social safety net worked perfectly and everyone had jobs and earned a decent wage and everyone was relatively happy.Medical was covered and if you had a job,things were affordable.My parents bought their first home in the east end for $5,000.The monthly mortgage payment was about $20.I used to rent a room on the DTES for 1.98 a night in 1972.The same room is now 400 a month.The fact that the government allows people to enter the country with no restriction on where they live is foolish.Even if the homes were available they should be looking for people to live outside of the big cities.They go to places like China and sell our real estate to foreign investors so that people live on the street with empty investment homes dotting the landscape.The search for the almighty dollar has brought us to where we are today. If there isn't some federal government investment in rental or co op housing for renters.Those of us with disabilities and the ones with a less than marketable IQ.We will see another depression style landscape with the wealthy in gated communities and the police operating as a barrier between the haves and the have nots.The fact that we have a government that cares only about money and those who have and move it means that there is no help in sight for the near future.You won't see any federal money for anything but oil industry,mining and the military.They care nothing for the things that make us Canada.They say they do but actions speak louder than words. We have a crisis in our big cities in affordable places to live.The cities are where the services for the poor are centred and yet nothing is being done to make affordable rental units available.The current value of housing means less people will move out into the retail market.We need investment in co op and other rental units now.

Don't you just love putting all that money in bad mens pockets.

Not to mention all the units taken off the market by grow-ops. No wonder an one bedroom basement suit in Abbotsford costs $800 a month.

Alternatives to fighting

So while I sympathize with many in this situation, there are alternatives to a chronic state of eviction. There are cooperatives and purpose-built rentals, both providing decent chances of long-term tenancy. This person has

I do not want to pass judgment on this particular case but from my experience the "move in a family member" clause is either because they want to move in a family member legitimately or there is something else going on. Just saying... not everyone faces such difficulties renting in Vancouver.

Ed Deak wonders

Ed Deak wonders why Canadians put up with all the negative effects of the so called Free Trade agreements (according to Hon. Paul Hellyer not about trade at all but about unfettered foreign investment). I think it's that most people have not read these deals, and only hear politicians say how wonderful they have been for Canada. I wouldn't have known either had I not met Hurtig and Hellyer, who understand this situation perfectly. Sadly, both new political parties these men tried to get going floundered.

And who is there to inform people of the true state of affairs, when the media talk for days about the latest murder, but never say anything that would really inform the public!

On the topic of housing in Vancouver. My parents and I came to this city in the early 1950's and it was then a delightful medium size town. I was the first woman to graduate from the Community and Regional Planning School at UBC, and then worked in Montreal. There I became aware of the influence of developers. Plans became miraculously modified and I wondered if the procession of developers calling to wish the Chief happy birthday (with armloads of liquor) had anything to do with it.

Today we call the former planning departments "Development Departments", at least we do in our Interior BC Regional District.
All in the name of growth and progress. Sadly for profit, not for the benefit of the citizens at large.

I wonder what happens to a metropolitan area whose labour force can't afford to live there? Could that be the future type of ghost town? Or will we have to import folks willing to sleep in dorms ten to a room, work for pennies a 14 hour shift, like they do in China? And of course those who profit from these sweat shops are bidding up prices in West Vancouver, where a home that sold for $12,000 45 years ago now sells for 1.5 million dollars! Incredible.

I wonder, if this continues, where will my grand kids live? In dorms ten to a room, I suppose.

The Most Liveable City will become unliveable.

I happen to live in the last affordable apartment in the Westend and I have no plans on going anywhere in the future for the very reasons everyone talks about. I pay $750/month for a large one bedroom. No, I'm not going to tell you where it is and no, I'm not going to help anyone get into the building. Suffice it to say, I've been there for 5 years and my partner was there two years before I moved in. We've never had a rent increase. The apartment is hot water heated and we don't pay for that. It's centrally located and I'm 3 minutes from work. I couldn't have found a better place and I can't wait to move out as soon as possible.

Affordable housing in Vancouver, let alone the westend is unheard of and I plan to milk this cow until I am renovicted or carted out in an oblong pine box. But I've had to put up with bedbugs, a drug dealing super, floods, crackheads, I do all of my own repairs, I was without a fridge for 4 months. When my partner first moved in, there was a mouse problem and one of the closets was inexplicably filled with broken sewing machines. We had our storage units broken into. The contents were replaced by dirty dishes. For 2 years, water poured out of a light socket in the hallway. My bathroom wall was ripped out to fix a pipe and never replaced. Up until 2 years ago, all of the plugs in the apartment were 2 prong. It smells like barfy rotting flesh and pot smoke all the time. The list goes on...

As a renter, I will put up with this because I can't afford to live elsewhere. Even if I move to the depths of East Van (not that I have anything against East Van), I can't get the same deal.

The landlord won't sell to Hollyburn (thank God) and even if he did, a renoviction would require a lot more money that what they would ever get back.

My point here is that we are willing to lower our standard of living to the point where we are willing to overlook health code violations to be able to have a roof over our heads. The government may not see affordable housing as a basic human right, but as a Vancouver renter, I am actually aiding a slum lord to be able to live here. There is probably mold growing everywhere in my building but no one will say anything to the City about it because we are all afraid of rent increases. If we leave our place, the landlord can get a new tenant by the end of the day, charge them more and get them to keep their traps shut because they are so thankful not to pay $1300 for a closet.

I'm afraid the standard of living will drop to the point where we are no longer living in a liveable city. Fear of a rent increase is enough to keep people from demanding their basic rights (ie, a clean and safe place to live). The divide between the rich and the poor will be very aparent when the rich are living in clean, well-maintain houses and the not-rich are scraping by in buildings that should be condemned.

The reality is most

The reality is most "owners"- the bank is the owner- would NEVER be able to afford their mortgages (I speak for Vancouver) without renters.

Regarding the comment about the elites who can afford to own, and build laneway houses, etc. They are only elite in their minds. They are massively indebted and will be for decades. It's all an illusion... the thing that makes my situation so good (and lucky for all of us involved) is that from day one my "landlords"- what an archaic term- never treated me as anything but an equal. When their first child was old enough to understand they began referring to me as "(my name), the woman who shares the house with us". The doors between our suites are always unlocked. A lot of home owners in the city are under the illusion that they are better than renters, and perhaps because of this they inadvertently choose the wrong people to rent to.. think about it.

lets elect land developers into office

And watch where that takes our rents. Do not forget cab drivers they are always into taking people for a ride.
Which BC Liberal MLAs used to be a cab drivers?

Dahlia.....The "free trade"

Dahlia.....The "free trade" racket was obvious to anybody with any brains and I fought and wrote articles against it in papers and in two organizations in 1987-88.

But we got it with a Mulroney "majority" of 47% of the votes

We can now see the results of the fraud, yet people are still voting for the Mulroney successors, selling the country from under their feet in the name of "wealth creation" and "foreign investment".

Ed Deak.

it's not for lack of space...

I'd like to know how many suites are sitting vacant, bought by offshore investors and/or money launderers who can afford to have them sit empty...

Early last fall I was on a boat in English harbour, mid-week at around 9:30pm. Looking at the West End, we could see that that the lights were off on somewhere between 2/3 to 3/4 of the apartments. And it dawned on me that this was exactly when people should be home, finishing dishes, relaxing or whatever. But really, a good chunk of those suites were empty.

Yay globalism.

I'm Alright Jack Pull up the Ladder

the subject line describes the governments and supporters of those governments who could care less about homeless or underhoused- which are all the governments I've ever dealt with regarding getting help with housing problems. Instead they beat up on homeless & the tenants with an alacrity that beggers belief.

BTW did anyone see any mention of BC Housing in Jackie Wong's article? I know they are as bloody useless as a eunuch in a brothel but that's not the point- wth 15000 on BC Housing waiting lists they owe us a bloody good explanation why they are twiddling their thumbs.

Rental of primary residences, investment, and interest

Judging loosely from the article, half of Vancouver residents are paying into the mortgages of the other half, while gaining no equity in their own communities. Not a great way to build a sustainable and caring community.

Until rental of primary residences is viewed in the same light as the charging of interest, it will continue to behave the same - increasing the wealth of one at the expense of the other.

In the community I live, I have paid over $150,000 into other people's mortgages in just over 10 years. At the same time, I share none of the equity nor the growth in value of the properties.The "owners", some of whom only had to come up with a down payment, reap all of the benefits. In this way, rental of housing contributes to the same redistribution of wealth that interest does; those who have get to have more, those who don't have keep getting further away from attaining it.

I suggest a future with no primary residential rental, replaced by mutually beneficial agreements between those who can pay a down payment and those who are willing to cover the monthly payments for the balance of principle. Sweat equity and maintenance can account for the person who inhabits the residence. Both parties should contribute to the interest portion (until we can abolish interest altogether).

Some will think this is utter crap, but they will be basing that opinion on the paradigm that man has been living throughout recorded history - the one that keeps repeating itself. I on the other hand am basing it on a new paradigm where our priority is on ensuring not only the survival of our species, but the ultimate attainment of what is possible in spiritual (not religious) and community growth (not material).

Re: the free trade

"But we got it with a Mulroney "majority" of 47% of the votes

We can now see the results of the fraud, yet people are still voting for the Mulroney successors, selling the country from under their feet in the name of "wealth creation" and "foreign investment"."

And now led by a "majority" party with 24% of the eligible vote...

The true majority of people aren't voting for this, but the "c"s are taking advantage of the left's love of splitting votes based on semantics. It's time for the 76% to wake up, take to the streets, and put in the non-partisan government that will work on behalf of that true majority. Yes, I am talking about civil disobedience all the way to a revolution - we can't wait politely while all public institutions are dismantled and sold to the highest bidder.

On the subject of rents and

On the subject of rents and especially ownership, the same racket is going on in Europe under the EU, with the wealthy West Europeans moving into the Eastern countries, inflating prices, depriving locals from buying homes and businesses.

A friend sent me photos of an area I've known in Hungary, with fancy, new houses, manicured gardens. I couldn't imagine Hungarians being able to afford anything like that after 45 years of communism. Turned out that the whole area is now owned by Germans.

Until the Mainland Chinese move in, albeit, I don't think they'll go to Europe, when they can take over Canada.

It is estimated that 5 million family farms will be wiped out by the EU in Poland, not even the communists managed to achieve. In Romania the number of family farms were down from close to 400,000 to 50,000 in 2 years.

The same for businesses bought up, closed down, forcing people out of jobs and to import.

The good old "free trade" racket all over the world, setting up an international ruling class nobody dares to question, or to oppose

I still prefer a sit down revolution that nobody can turn into crimes, as it is happening in England now.

We've lived in England from 1948 to 55 and could never have imagined what is going on now under the beautiful, "globalized" "conservative" "wealth creating" economic racket.

Ed Deak.

Ottawa Has Not Retreated.

After years of complaints that Ottawa is so far away and only local authorities really understand local need, the federal government listened and heard the concerns and responded with substantial money and responsibility shifted to the local authorities.

Jackie Wong, quote:
"With Ottawa's retreat, municipalities have attempted to fill the gap in support for rental housing left by senior governments. But with few resources, their influence is limited. ..."

Well, I'd say their influence is increased and substantial.

July 26, 2011
"The federal and provincial governments announced plans Monday to carry through with previous commitments to support affordable housing in B.C.

Both levels of government will contribute $90 million each over the next three years to support the housing needs of low-income individuals, families and seniors, backed by continued commitments from B.C. and Canada.

The federal government's share of the money comes from funding announced in 2008, when $1.9 billion was set aside for housing and homelessness throughout Canada.

Those funds were followed up by a one-time infusion of $2 billion as part of the government's Economic Action Plan to finance new and existing social housing.

An additional $2 billion was made available in the form of low-cost loans to municipalities for housing-related infrastructure, according to a government release. "

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Feds+province+maintain+funds/5158537/story.html#ixzz1UbEtY4XX