Rental data shows some municipalities not pulling their weight on new units, analyst says
Global News
The Township of Langley and Richmond, however, both saw a net loss of rental units, while Port Coquitlam and Maple Ridge held flat last year.
A Vancouver-based data analyst says a deeper dive into a new federal rental report shows not all municipalities in the Metro Vancouver area are pulling their weight in addressing the housing crisis.
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Agency released its latest Rental Market Survey report on Thursday, showing a Greater Vancouver vacancy rate of just 0.9 per cent, and average rents at unit turnover topping $2,800.
Critical to that problem is a lack of supply, and data analyst Jens von Bergman with Mountain Math Software and Analytics says while some municipalities have been adding new units, others are lagging far behind.
Leading the pack in the period from October 2021 to October 2022 was the City of Vancouver, which added about 1,300 new purpose-built rental units, followed by the City of North Vancouver with around 600 and district of North Vancouver with just under 500.
The Township of Langley and Richmond, however, both saw a net loss of rental units, while Port Coquitlam and Maple Ridge held flat and Burnaby posted a small net increase, though out of proportion to its population.
“A loss in the rental market can happen when things get torn down, converted, or when there are deep renovations, in which case they might come back online later, but Richmond hasn’t really added new rental,” he said.
“Most of that really is lining up the incentives properly. In general, the way this works in most of Metro Vancouver is development really only happens if municipalities allow it specifically. Zoning is such that very few things get built outright, so you need special incentives …. and condo usually outbids rental.”
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