Brennon Patterson has spent 18 months looking for a new place to rent that is within walking distance to his job downtown. The banking adviser, who rents in Saanich, has seen about 30 to 40 units without success. “It is frustrating,” he said Thursday. “I know there’s a lot of people in the same boat.”
The challenge is finding an affordable place to rent that doesn’t take up half his salary in a region with a vacancy rate of just 0.6 per cent as of fall 2015.
As Patterson continues his hunt, rental apartment planning and construction is booming in the region. Demand is being driven by population growth and the rising cost of home ownership. The Capital Regional District predicts that by 2038 the population will stand at 470,492, up 28 per cent from 367,632 in 2011.
Strong demand, low-interest rates, and more favourable development rules have combined to spark building.
The capital region has long attracted condominium developers. But now the number of rental apartments in the works is approaching condo numbers, according to a new study.
A total of 2,573 rental apartments are planned or are under construction, based on information collected in the first nine months of this year, said Yellow Sheet Construction Data Ltd. Of those, 1,164 units are under construction.
And 2,762 condos are proposed or being built, the report said. Within that number, 1,553 units are under construction. As well, another 637 townhouses, 575 seniors units and 720 units that are not classified into a type of housing are in the pipeline, the Yellow Sheet report said.
The region has a historically tight rental housing market.
Greater Victoria has 50,836 rental units, consisting of purpose-built apartments, condos in rental pools, townhouses, single-family homes and suites.
Federal tax rules introduced in 1972 discouraged rental construction, sending developers to build hotels and condos. After years of little rental construction, industry watchers do not expect the tight market to loosen immediately.
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. figures show just 227 rental units were started in 1990 in the capital region. Those figures can not be compared directly to the new study because it includes projects that started and carried on over more than one year.
Support from municipalities makes a difference, said David Hutniak, CEO of Landlord B.C., which has 3,300 members representing all types of rental housing.
The City of Victoria, for example, voted in June to fast-track applications for purpose-built rental housing.
Many renters are keen to live downtown, Hutniak said. The Yellow Sheet report said 662 rental units are under construction in Victoria, the most among capital region municipalities.
Builders planning to put up purpose-built rentals are saying Victoria has a spirit of collaboration and interest in finding ways to make proposed projects work, Hutniak said. “There’s receptiveness, first of all, to the need for purpose built rental. They recognize it’s critical.”
Despite this, “we still have a long way to go. The need is still continuing. There is still a very, very low vacancy rate in Victoria,” he said.
