Residents paint grim picture of Metro Vancouver's rental market

The downtown Vancouver Skyline, 2023. Ian Ius/ Daily Hive | Andrey_Popov/Shutterstock

Dozens of residents around Metro Vancouver have weighed in to share the sacrifices they made, the corners they’ve cut, or the people they relied on to find a place to rest their weary heads.

We recently asked Daily Hive readers how the hell they found an apartment in Metro Vancouver. We received nearly two dozen responses which in many ways painted a grim photo of what living in the region looks like right now.

Searching for housing a “full-time job”

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First, we asked folks to tell us what they did to secure a place to live. In response, some said they simply had to make the search a “full-time job.”

People stuck to a traditional rental search said they looked at listings and set up alerts on rental sites. Craigslist and Facebook Market are the most popular rental listing sites that respondents to the survey said they use to find accommodation.

Apart from online tools, friends and family were also popular ways to find housing, as were calling rental offices.

Others also scoured in person by driving around the region, hoping to find “For Rent” signs.

However, despite doing all they could, some people said they have come very close to experiencing homelessness.

“The day before we [found housing we] were to end up being homeless. We were accepted into a below market rental through BC Housing which had just opened up. We had applied for 100’s of places and were ready to sleep in our car as we refused to give up our senior dog,” one person wrote to Daily Hive.

“We jumped through a million hoops, were denied a million times as they didn’t think we could afford the rent or someone who made more money than us applied after we did.”

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To find a place to live, people said they even asked a relative for help, paid “out the a** in rent,” sacrificed their rights, moved in with multiple housemates, adjusted their rent budget, cut back on eating two out of three meals, and even just left the province.

Those who were financially capable said they bought a home instead of renting.

Many people said they had their hearts set on living in downtown Vancouver or surrounding neighbourhoods when looking for a place to live. For the most part, folks could find a place in Vancouver, usually in the Marpole, Joyce Collingwood area, Mount Pleasant, West End, or Hastings Sunrise.

If folks looked outside of Vancouver, they said they usually landed in New Westminster, Port Coquitlam, and Burnaby.

Sacrifices residents have made

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Even when people found a place to live, they admitted to having to make sacrifices during their apartment hunt. Plenty admitted to giving up many ideals, such as a balcony or private outdoor space, in-unit laundry, close access to a SkyTrain or grocery store, walkability, parking, and air conditioning.

While many people who were surveyed said they adjusted their expectations during their rental hunt, a few mentioned they were just happy to find a place to call home.

“We were just happy to not have to sleep in our car or a shelter,” one person said.

Another person surveyed said, “I only wish to express gratitude for having a decent space to live in a wonderful area in the city I love.”

While they don’t have dishwater, in-suite laundry, or an air conditioner, “I’m not complaining one bit.”

Apart from the appliances and amenities people did or did not sacrifice, people commonly mentioned the greatest sacrifice was paying much more than budgeted for rent and even sacrificing their rights.

Illegal and sketchy finds

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Most of the people who responded to our survey said they did not end up somewhere illegal or sketchy to find a place, but some people said they did.

In some cases, one person suggested they believed they were renting an illegal basement suite, another said they were squatting, and one person didn’t sign a lease because their landlord did not “believe” in them.

“I’m sleeping in a kitchen,” another person added.

“Three people [are living] in one bedroom apartment,” another person said.

Lastly, one person surveyed said they are “not really affording” their rent and are “living paycheque to paycheque.”

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Point2Homes recently examined Canada’s best cities for renters in several categories and shared a report that examined factors such as economy and housing, quality of life, community, and walkability.

It might not come as a surprise, but due to the high cost of renting in Vancouver, it barely made the top 20 for the best cities to rent in. Vancouver ranked #19.

Looking at quality of life, Point2Homes placed Vancouver pretty low on the list, at #75 out of 100 cities. The quality of life score looked at metrics like life satisfaction, perceived life stress, commute time, greenness, walk score, air quality, and crime severity index.

However when it came to the community ranking (which looked at things like sense of belonging, school access, hospitals, parks) Vancouver ranked #3.

With files from Amir Ali.