The University of Victoria is hoping to build on-campus housing for at least 500 students amid the capital region’s chronic rental-housing shortage.
The university is developing a business case for additional housing, especially for graduate and upper-year undergraduate students, UVic associate vice-president of student affairs Jim Dunsdon said in a statement Wednesday.
Planning is still in the early stages, and details of the building type, layout and location have not been finalized, Dunsdon said.
The university has issued a request for architectural consulting services for the student housing expansion proposal. It closes on Oct. 22.
Last year, the university wrapped up a two-stage $235.9-million project to add almost 800 new housing beds and a dining hall on campus.
A 398-bed building and dining hall opened in the fall of 2022, followed by another residence with 385 single-room, dormitory style units for first-year students that officially opened last winter.
Together, the new residences increased on-campus housing by 25 per cent.
Students have long talked about the difficulties of finding housing in the current tight rental market.
Isabelle Easton, director of campaigns and community relation for the University of Victoria Students’ Society, called the plan to expand on-campus housing a “much-needed step for our students.”
Finding affordable and safe housing in Victoria has been a persistent challenge for students, said Easton, whose society is also calling for rent protection for students living on campus.
Easton noted that students living in UVic residences do not have protection under the B.C. Residential Tenancy Act, which means they’re not shielded from rent increases like other tenants. “We hope that UVic will engage critically with this issue as they develop their housing plans.”
Student housing rental rates vary depending on the type of residence and what’s included. Between September and April, a bachelor apartment costs $9,060. A single room with a meal plan is $14,752, according the university’s website
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s latest rental market report released in January said the vacancy rate for purpose-built rental units in the capital region was 1.6 per cent, with a two-bedroom apartment renting for an average of $1,839 per month, although many people pay much more than that in Victoria, Saanich, Esquimalt and Oak Bay. The condominium rental vacancy rate was 0.1 per cent, the federal agency said.
Even as multi-family projects are going up in the capital region, renters have absorbed much of the new supply, it said.
High migrations levels to the region plus a strong job market in 2023 pushed up demand for rental properties.
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