"Cashing in": Some students fed up with UBC housing rent increases

Even student housing isn’t safe from increases in today’s rental environment, and UBC students are reacting negatively to some proposed rent hikes.

Some UBC students living in student housing have received emails about rent increases of between 5% and 6%.

One student pointed out that, between this year’s proposed increase and last year’s, there was an increase of 13% to 14% in two years.

“We appreciate rental increases are not welcome news for some students,” said Andrew Parr, associate vice president of student housing and communication services, in a statement to Daily Hive.

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Parr’s statement offered some reassurance that students who are facing challenges can look into financial support offered by UBC.

“I also think it’s important to note that our rates are well below local rental and below many of our post-secondary peers across Canada, including many in less expensive markets than Vancouver.”

Parr also provided some specific information about how much rates will be increasing.

“For clarity, the rent increase is an average of 5% across our student housing system, with some increases as low as 3.5% (family housing and older facilities, between $52 to $75 per month) and some others at 5% ($45 to $71 per month) and 6% (newer stock, $46 to $95 per month).”

Parr noted that, by comparison, the latest numbers from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation show that Vancouver experienced an average rent increase of 8.6% last year.  He also said that, like in most of BC, demand exceeds supply.

Comment
byu/AdAppropriate7838 from discussion
inUBC

As many have pointed out in this Reddit thread, UBC housing falls out of the jurisdiction of the BC Tenancy Branch, meaning that rent increase caps don’t apply to UBC housing.

Comment
byu/AdAppropriate7838 from discussion
inUBC

Others have suggested that they’re getting better deals on rent off-campus.

Comment
byu/AdAppropriate7838 from discussion
inUBC

Do you feel the increases are fair?