As many as 14,300 student beds are needed in Vancouver to accommodate students attending university there, according to a 2019 report by Real Estate Investment Network Canada.
University of British Columbia (UBC) has nearly 55,000 students, with Simon Fraser University reporting 30,000 students.
UBC provides about 12,000 student beds and is seemingly working on adding more.
Andrew Parr, the managing director of Facilities and Building Services at UBC said that he didn’t know to what extent an admission limiting policy could or should address the housing crisis.
“To an extent, the university has a responsibility [to student housing], and is fulfilling it in terms of investments made with on-campus housing.”
The problem of housing shortages are not addressed by the universities, because they can only control their own investments.
According to a Global News article, even with these efforts over 6,000 students remain on the waitlist for on-campus housing.
As Parr said, “We just can’t keep up with the demand.”
Vancouver is in the midst of a housing crisis. According to a release from the rental site Padmapper, Vancouver is the second most expensive city in Canada, after Toronto.
With no shortage of incoming professionals willing to pay the premium rent for a suite, it is more profitable for investors to create housing that focuses on targeting that demographic.
Derek Lobo, the chief executive officer and broker of SVN Canada said in an interview with Real Estate News Exchange that he thinks the problem is beyond the scope of any one university.
“We haven’t had a merchant apartment building industry in Canada since the 70s. If you don’t have a primary apartment industry, you’re not going to have the spinoff industry of student housing.”
Because student-specific housing is rented by the bed, instead of a full unit and has a high turnover rate, the logistics can be unappealing to landlords.
Even so, the United States, across Europe and even Waterloo, Ont., has seen this industry work well for students and owners alike, said Lobo.
Currently, investment in student-specific housing is largely reliant on the universities.
He said more private student-specific housing would be profitable, affordable and even minimize student debt accumulated from living in a city such as Vancouver.
The cost of school along with an average rent of $1,996 per unit, is not something most students can save for with just the income of their high school job.
Danni Olusanya is a fourth-year history student at UBC who said that housing “is incredibly expensive.”
Olusanya lives on campus at UBC and says she pays about $1,000 per month for her room.
However, Olusanya said that a majority of students who go to UBC live off campus, usually in basements, with many roommates and with “not the greatest” landlords because they want to be close to campus and that is the reality of the situation.
“I’m not saying UBC housing is perfect, but I do think when it comes to things … they know it will be harder for certain people to achieve housing.”
Feature image from file.
