University students are scrambling in tight Calgary housing market

University students are the latest group to be affected by the tight housing market in Calgary, with limited options causing major problems.

For the second year in a row, the University of Calgary residences filled up, leaving hundreds of students on the waitlist.

The University of Calgary Students’ Union says the combination of rising rent prices and full residences means students are struggling to find a safe and affordable home.

The Students’ Union is asking Calgarians to consider renting any type of housing for students, whether it be a spare room, basement suite, apartment, or laneway house. It says many students are already looking for rentals and many more will join the search as the school year approaches.

“Please consider renting to a student, if you are able,” says Mateusz Salmassi, Students’ Union VP External. “Students are living in unsafe conditions, and others have had to temporarily live in their cars because they couldn’t find housing. This is not acceptable in a place like Calgary.”

The Students’ Union is also looking to City Hall for help and is hoping Calgary City Council will approve and get to work on all recommendations from its Housing Affordability Task Force.

“These recommendations just make sense,” says Salmassi. “If we want Calgary to be an affordable place to live then we need to be concerned about all Calgarians, not only those who can afford to buy an expensive house.”

Salmassi said that those recommendations would lower the bar for homeownership by allowing secondary and backyard suites that homeowners can rent to students, for example.

It has been a record-setting year in the Calgary housing market, with most records favouring sellers.

That has carried into the rental market, where prices have continued to climb across Calgary and the rest of the province.