‘It shouldn’t be this hard’: Vancouver rents have jumped 23 per cent since last year

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Tyler Kelly and Shayla Desjarlais combined their incomes in November to look for an affordable one-bedroom suite to rent in Metro Vancouver.

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The couple, who each receive about $1,400 in government assistance each month due to disabilities, are willing to pay roughly that amount for a permanent place to live. So far they’ve not had any luck.

“I moved here from Nanaimo when I was 21,” Kelly said. “Back on the Island, I paid $975 for an entire single-bedroom studio in the center of downtown. It was a nice place.”

Since coming to the mainland, the 27-year-old said he has struggled to find a permanent place — alternating between living out of his car, couch-surfing at friends’ homes or living out of hotel rooms.

“We’ve heard, ‘We’re sorry, we can’t rent you this place because it would be more than 50 per cent of your combined income,’” said Kelly. “I have been on disability since I was 19 because of generative arthritis and joint problems that leave me unable to do many movements. I currently walk with a cane. But what I’m making now is not enough for a $1,500 basement suite.”

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The average rental price for an apartment in Vancouver jumped 23 per cent since last year, the largest increase of any Canadian city, according to the latest report from Rentals.caan online rental agency.

The jump kept Vancouver ahead of Toronto as the most expensive city in Canada for renters, with two-bedroom rentals averaging $3,000 per month — an increase of more than 17 per cent compared to the same period last year. The average rent for a one-bedroom rental was just over $2,200.

“Prices are through the roof,” said Paul Danison, content director for Rentals.ca. “The rental market is getting squeezed on a lot of different fronts.”

He said BC’s population growth has played “a big part” in pushing up rental prices.

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The pandemic push toward work-from-home situations has also contributed to the pressure on home prices, he said, noting that “people who work from home are looking for a little more space.”

“When people move out and move up, places become available,” Danison said. “But rents go up.”

The combination of limited rental supply, a growing population and skyrocketing property values ​​have all contributed to the dramatic growth in rental prices in Vancouver — and BC — over the past few years.

Rising interest rates and limited housing supplies mean that a lot of people who might have considered making the jump from renter to homeowner are holding off.

“Why not put it off another five to seven years and build up more of a down payment,” Danison said of potential homebuyers putting additional pressure on the rental market.

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“In Vancouver, there’s not enough places for people to live,” Danison said, noting the vacancy rate in the GVRD was 1.2 per cent in February.

“It’s one of the lowest vacancy rates in the country,” he said.

Vancouver is far from the only city in BC where rents are rising.

Burnaby and Victoria also made it into the top five of the rental firm’s National Rent Ranking, with one-bedroom rentals in Burnaby averaging $2,000 per month, while two bedrooms in Victoria averaged nearly $2,700. Rental prices increased in Surrey as well, though average prices for both one- and two-bedroom rentals haven’t yet broken $2,000 per month.

Danison said renters looking for more affordable options should consider options outside Vancouver.

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“Surrey and New Westminster tend to be a little less expensive for renters,” he said. “They’re places that people can look at so that you can get a little bit of a break.”

“If you’re willing to drive a little bit.”

Vancouver’s recently announced plan for the Broadway corridor, which seeks to move away from single-family homes towards more density, is a step in the right direction, according to Danison.

In the short-term, though, Danison said renters should expect prices to keep going up, at least through the spring, “when most people move.”

“Typically rents go up anyway during spring,” he said.

Speaking from a hotel room in Langley Thursday, Kelly said he and his girlfriend currently rent a storage locker, where both of their belongings are kept during the day.

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For now, they think they might have to settle for renting a room.

“We’ve been sleeping on our friends’ couches and in hotels while looking at places. At this point, we’re close to subletting a room from a stranger rather than have our own place,” Kelly said.

“It shouldn’t be this hard to get a one-bedroom rental in Vancouver.”

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