B.C. renters spending more on housing, utilities than they can afford: study

A new survey is painting a discouraging picture of how unaffordable housing has become for many in British Columbia.

“We’ve let this crisis manifest over several generations,” said Jill Atkey, CEO of the B.C. Non-Profit Housing Association.

The crisis that Atkey is talking about is rising rents and utility costs, causing many to spend well beyond their means.

“We have too many renter households spending more than 30 [per cent] and, in fact, more than 50 per cent of their pre-tax income towards their housing costs,” said Atkey.

British Columbians are paying more for housing on average than anyone else in Canada.

In Greater Victoria, there are more than 67,000 households of renters. Forty per cent of those households can’t afford what they are currently paying for shelter.

“That means you’re forgoing other basic necessities,” said Atkey. “You are starting to cut back on food, you’re not putting your kids into extracurricular actives.”

Doug King, executive director of the Together Against Poverty Society, says the crisis has been slowly bubbling to the surface for years and now it’s reached its boiling point.

“We’re seeing a lot of older people on disability unfortunately being put into homelessness because of this crisis,” said King. “Because vacancy is so low in the capital region, and because there is such demand and competition for units, landlords can increase that rent whenever they put it up on the market.”

Ravi Kahlon, B.C.’s Minister of Housing, says there is not enough housing to meet the demand.

He points to government policies already enacted that are meant to help, including the province's Rental Protection Fund, which provides grants to non-profit housing groups.

He said more help is coming.

“There’s a renter tax credit that is coming as well,” Kahlon said.

Housing advocates say those measures are a good start but they don’t go far enough.

“We want rent control,” said King. “We want full rent control that controls rent in between tenancies.”

Atkey said the province should also invest more in non-profit and co-op housing.

With the survey showing so many renters are priced out of housing, a breaking point could be coming, leaving some with no options left but homelessness.

BY THE NUMBERS 

• Number of renters in Greater Victoria: 67,695
   
• Average household income for a renter:
  B.C. $78,000
  Greater Victoria $71,600
   
• Portion of renters overspending on rent and utilities by 30%:
  Greater Victoria 40%
   
• Portion of renters overspending on rent and utilities by 50%:
  Greater Victoria 16%
   
• Renter households living in overcrowded conditions:
  B.C. 11%
  Greater Victoria 8%