The word “staggering” was well-chosen. It was the reaction of some regional politicians who were told that Greater Victoria needs about 6,200 more affordable rental apartment units.
The B.C. Non-profit Housing Association says that number would just catch up to the demand for housing for low- to moderate-income households. By 2038, 34,167 new units of affordable rental housing will be needed, according to a Capital Regional District staff report.
That might sound as if we have a few years, but as Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps said, 2038 is “arguably just around the corner.” Finding sites, raising money, getting approvals and the rest of the process eat up the years.
In the meantime, each of those unbuilt apartments is not a number, but a family searching for a place to live in a market that is grinding them into poverty.
Between 2011 and 2016, 9,340 new households were added in the region, the report says. Almost 80 per cent of those chose to rent, but only 1,026 new rental housing units were added. The other families looked to single homes, garden suites, basements and rented condos.
The average market rent hit $1,072 in 2016, up eight per cent over the year before. But rent is only part of the crushing bill. Those forced to live far from work must add transportation to their cost of living. If all that adds up to more than 45 per cent of family income, it’s considered “unaffordable.”
This is not a problem that any one municipality can fix. Even working together, “staggering” describes the challenges ahead.
