Metro Vancouver's Unaffordable Housing Crisis

Vancouver housing options are shrinking fast for renters

The housing situation in Metro Vancouver is fast coming to a head with a terrible combination of rising interest rates and inflation, while salaries are not keeping up.

Before there was a lot of scorn poured on the real estate industry, with blame put on foreign buyers for jacking up property prices that made it near impossible for locals to get a foot in the door.

The City of Vancouver responded with an empty homes tax -- any home that was vacant for long periods of time the owner would be subject to a 5 percent tax of the assessed value of the property. The rate was recently reduced to 3 percent for this year.

Densifying neighbourhoods with townhouses

The empty homes tax was a bid to force property owners to not leave places vacant and open up more housing opportunities for people. There were stories of mansions were rented out to numerous students, who in turn created a mess in the home... for others it was a god send to have a decent place to live in.

But now because of rising interest rates, those homeowners with variable mortgages are suffering, and may have hoped to have a "mortgage helper" by renting out their place, but now the renter can't afford the jacked up rent and has to find another place to live.

In some cases people are "reno-evicted" -- where the landlord claims they are renovating the place and the renter has to leave, or the landlord claims they will sell the place, or it is sold, the rent is increased and unaffordable.

That leaves more people looking for somewhere to live.

This morning a local radio show opened up the phone lines to hear from renters about their situations and it sounds dire.

An example of a basement suite

One person talked about looking at a budget of C$2,500-C$3,000 for a basement suite. The caller added landlords are preferring one person or maximum two people for a two-bedroom suite, whereas she had three in her family and was ignored.

Another person said on Twitter that a few months ago in order to keep renting their current place, they had to agree to a C$300 increase otherwise the landlord would sell it.

One woman said the place she was renting was burned down in March and since then has essentially been homeless. She makes just under C$70,000 a year and cannot find a place to live. Originally she was living with her adult daughter but since they became homeless, they had to split up in the hopes of bettering their chances of getting roofs over their heads. Their senior cat is living with someone on Vancouver Island.

She said in finding a place to live she has seen more rooms available than enclosed units, and suggested some of the housing that could have been rented out is being used for air bnbs, which is illegal in Vancouver.

People with decent incomes have to throw away the rule that rent should take up 30 percent of their salary and instead spend up to 50 percent now. How can they afford their utilities, gas for their car and food and still save something in the end? Newspaper articles report many people have resorted to buying groceries on credit cards. How will they pay back these bills?

Homes like this will be scarcer in the city

Some elderly landlords rent out spaces to help with their own bills as they have small pensions, but with inflation, the rents they are charging aren't enough, while other landlords aren't even humans but real estate investments trusts or REITS, that are only out there to make as much money as possible. 

It's evident the system is broken, but how to fix it? How do we make sure everyone who needs an affordable place to live can find one? We're not even talking about home ownership -- just a roof over their heads that they can afford that is not leaving them in survival mode.

The city is trying to densify neighbourhoods and approving building permits faster, but these people need places to live now. 

At the other end of the spectrum are seniors who have lived in their homes for decades and can't understand why the municipal government is forcing them to accept six-storey condos in their neighbourhoods, or that developers can build up to six units on a plot of land next to theirs.

It's sadly a situation of the haves versus the have-nots and the inequity is becoming starker by the day...

Hycroft is a Vancouver Gem

The columns are covered up with vines at the Hycroft entrance

Earlier this week my aunt treated me to a violin and piano recital at Hycroft, an architectural gem in Vancouver. It was formerly a residence and a veteran's hospital before its current owner, The University Women's Club of Vancouver took over in 1962.

For the most part the rooms on the ground floor are relatively well maintained, and there aren't many places like this with such history and elegance in the city.

The recital was held in this drawing room

Hycroft is located on McRae Avenue, and that's because the original owner was Alexander McRae who had the home built for him and his wife Blanche and their three daughters. 

Originally from Ontario, McRae started out in banking and insurance in Minnesota and then expanded to land development on the prairies.

The family arrived in Vancouver in 1907 and commissioned British-born architect Thomas Hooper to design Hycroft. Hooper seems to have good timing, arriving in Vancouver after the great fire of 1886, when two land-clearing fires got out of control and destroyed many parts of the city.

It took two years for Hycroft to be built, featuring 10 fireplaces, six solaria, two lounges, a dining room, drawing room, library, several bedrooms, 13 bathrooms and a ballroom with a sprung floor. imported tiles were used as well as rare woods and ornate plasterwork.

In 1912 McRae was asked to join the military and he was appointed Brigadier-General and head of the British Ministry of Information under Lord Beaverbrook. 

Nearby is this dining room with a fireplace

McRae was also actively involved in provincial and federal politics for almost 30 years, first as a Member of Parliament for Vancouver North in 1926, and four years later he was appointed to the Senate.

He later turned down an offer of Canadian High Commissioner in London because of his wife's health, an she died in 1942. That same year as a contribution to the war effort, the family gave Hycroft to the federal government to use as a veterans' convalescent hospital; the contents of the house were sold at auction. The building functioned as a hospital from 1943 to 1960.

Then in 1962 the University Women's Club of Vancouver was looking for a clubhouse and purchased a part of the Hycroft estate, but it wasn't without its challenges. At the time women were not allowed to have a mortgage, which meant the members had to pay in full. So they did a lot of fundraising as well as using their personal savings to purchase the property. 

These days the UWCV holds various events at Hycroft daily, including a buffet lunch -- we could smell the staff preparing food while listening to the recital! and mahjong too! They also rent out the place for various events -- what a gorgeous venue for a wedding.

A detail of the fireplace tiles

The recital was fantastic too! Violinist Domagoj Ivanovic was accompanied by a pianist and they present a lively program with Brahms' Sonata in G major, Op. 78, followed by his scherzo called Sonatensatz.

After the intermission, we were treated to Wieniawski's Polonaise in D major; Slavonic Dance No. 2 by Dvorak; Stravinsky's Petroushka; Piazzolla's Three Tangos; and with Halloween coming up he could not resist playing Bazzini's Dance of the Goblins.

Living in "Rotten-Tail" Buildings

Unfinished, and yet people live in buildings like this

There's a severe housing crisis in China -- millions of people have poured their hard-earned savings into apartments, hoping they can at least live in their biggest purchase, and that their property will appreciate in time.

But now developers have run out of cash to finish the buildings and their clients, the buyers, have run out of patience.

Some have staged protests at developers' or banks' offices, or refused to pay mortgages on their "rotten-tail buildings" -- or they have moved in.

People that McDonnell spoke to in Xi'an

The BBC's Stephen McDonnell went to visit some people who did just that in Xi'an.

It's a nondescript brown building with no windows, no electricity, no running water, and yet up to 200 people live there.

"We used up all our savings to buy our apartments," says one man. "It's been five years and we can't live in them. We can't bear it any longer."

He said it's been financially hard because of the Covid-19 pandemic, making it difficult to make money, and yet there are still car and mortgage payments that must be made.

"I feel helpless, I don't want to live this way, but we've no where to go," says a young man whose two young children, six and eight years old also live there. 

The residents get water in giant jugs from elsewhere, and cook in a communal kitchen. Periodically they can get a bit of electricity from solar panels. 

How will Xi solve this problem, Covid-19 related

One middle-aged woman told McDonnell that they cook whatever they are good at, or whatever they want to eat and share it with others. "We're like one big family," she says with a smile.

McDonnell wanted to ask them more, but then the police showed up and shooed him and his cameraman away.

There are so many more questions -- what do they do for toilets? Showers? How can they live with no windows and what about when winter sets in?

Apparently after McDonnell's visit, the residents were told construction would resume, but they were not convinced...