Vancouver – Greedy Landlords?
Or is it just what happens in a hyper-inflated housing market?.
Vancouver’s apartment renters are complaining of being booted out of their building so the owners can make renovations then jack up the rent.
Councilor Tim Stevenson says it’s not fair, and it’s time for the provincial government to step in. “We’re asking that the province amend the residential tenancy act to require landlords to allow tenants who are evicted for renovations, come back into their suites once they’re completed, at the same rent that they were paying prior to the renovations. He also says eviction notices should be extended from 60 to 90 days and landlords’ records should be turned over annually to the residential tenancy branch.
The problem with this idea is that it will encourage landlords to let apartments run down, and in the long term we are encouraging slums.
Stevenson is also forgetting that rents are really out of sync with real estate prices – rent is approx 3% house/apartment prices – the norm is 10%. This puts landlords at a real disadvantage and the return on investment is no longer based on rising property values.
This speaks volumes of how the real estate bubble is in Vancouver (also Calgary and Toronto) is going to create pain as it deflates.
December 12th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
I got out of the ‘landlord’ business when rent controls prevented me from covering rising costs. The government told me what I could do with my own property and put in no money but became a 50% partner when I sold due to capital gains. There is no incentive to be a landlord (in my town, the landlord can be fined for ‘permitting’ a grow-op in his rental premises!). A shortage of rental housing is strictly a result of governments meddling in the market place. No money to be made equals no investments made.
December 12th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
[...] unknown wrote an interesting post today onVancouver – Greedy Landlords? | Vancouver SecretsHere’s a quick excerptStevenson is also forgetting that rents are really out of sync with real estate prices – rent is approx 3% house/apartment prices – the norm is 10%. This puts landlords at a real disadvantage and the return on investment is no longer … [...]