Greens leader Emily Lowan says B.C. is 'reclaiming' a dubious rent title it never lost
We’ve heard a lot about how rent prices have been coming down in B.C. over the past couple of years, but BC Greens leader Emily Lowan is painting a less rosy picture of the situation than the BC NDP has been.
It has become quite common for the BC NDP, particularly housing minister Christine Boyle, to comment on recent rent reports from both liv.rent and Rentals.ca.
In those releases, Boyle attributes the decreases to work done by the current BC NDP government.
After a rent report in August, Boyle said, “Thanks to our work to increase housing supply, crack down on illegal short-term rentals, and limit foreign investment in the housing market, B.C. has seen a 4.5 per cent decrease in overall average rents.”
In a release from the BC Greens, Lowan suggests that B.C. will reclaim the title of the most expensive province for rent prices.
However, it might be difficult to reclaim a title the province never lost in the first place.
While rent prices have softened, that reality has yet to dethrone B.C. as the most expensive place to rent. That includes the most recent Rentals.ca report, which Lowan references.
Rentals.ca’s latest report shows that the top three most expensive places to rent in all of Canada are North Vancouver, Vancouver, and Burnaby. Coquitlam is also in the top ten most expensive places.
“Renters in British Columbia have faced a deeply hostile environment. While Eby’s NDP has touted minor reductions in asking prices, it comes as a cold comfort when those asking prices were wildly inflated to begin with,” Lowan said in a release.
“This government has failed to provide renters any tools for renters to reap the benefits of their touted lower rents and, on average, one in three renters in Canada are spending beyond the 30 per cent recommended monthly income threshold for rent.”
The BC Greens release goes on to say, “But, as B.C. reclaims its position as the most expensive province in the country for apartment or condo rents, it’s clear that we are living in the consequences of failure.”
The party is also calling out the BC NDP for cancelling the Community Housing Fund and failing to pass vacancy control, despite urging it to do so.
“British Columbians are now forced to live with the collapse of the BC NDP’s approach,” the BC Greens release added.
The BC Greens have promised to restart the Community Housing Fund, build and protect 26,000 units of affordable non-market housing every year, and pass vacancy control.