More B.C. renters are spending 'crisis-level' amounts on housing, rental housing index finds

British Columbia has the highest proportion of renters spending more than half of their income on rent and utilities in Canada, according to new data released Monday. 

The latest edition of the Canadian Rental Housing Index, a database of rental housing statistics developed by the B.C. Non-Profit Housing Association (BCNPHA), in partnership with Vancity, found that 16 per cent of renters in B.C. spent more than 50 per cent of their income to cover rent and utilities, a number that puts them at an increased risk of homelessness.

Ontario and Nova Scotia were close behind with 15 and 13 per cent, respectively.
 
The index looked at data from the 2021 long-form census and found a substantial surge in rental costs since the last census in 2016, says the BCNPHA. The increase over those five years was most acute in B.C., which saw a 30 per cent increase in average rents, and Ontario, where rents rose 27 per cent.

Nearly 250,000 of the more than 660,000 rental households in B.C. pay an "unaffordable" amount for housing, with 30 per cent or more of total household income going towards rent and utilities.

Within that group, more than 100,000 are paying over 50 per cent, which is described as a "crisis-level" amount. 

B.C. Non-Profit Housing Association CEO Jill Atkey says the latest numbers reflect years of failure to invest in rental housing. 

"The hundreds of thousands of renters [across Canada] struggling to get by in today's crushing rental markets expect all levels of government and industry stakeholders to work together to solve this crisis," Atkey said in a statement issued Monday.

The numbers paint a similar picture to data from the 2021 census gathered by Canada's federal housing advocate. 

It found B.C. ranks as the most unaffordable province for housing in Canada due largely to the number of people paying high rents to live in downtown Vancouver.

Overcrowding an issue

The B.C. Non-Profit Housing Association says its analysis is unique in its comparison of rents, incomes, overcrowding, and housing quality across demographics.

It noted that the rental crisis disproportionately affected households led by women and/or racialized individuals who are more likely to face a severe affordability crunch.

The report raised concerns about the condition of existing rental stock, with seven per cent of British Columbian renters living in units in need of major repairs.

The research found 11 per cent of renter households in B.C. were living in "overcrowded conditions." The highest numbers were found in Surrey at 24 per cent.

"There's really just a lack of space for people to live, and they squeeze in weird ways to make it work," said Jens von Bergmann, a Vancouver-based analyst who looks at data around housing, demographics and transportation.

Von Bergmann has been collecting rental data from online listings for years. He says there was a dip in rental costs at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, but they have been rising ever since.

He says rent for a one-bedroom in Metro Vancouver is averaging $2,200 to $2,700 depending on location.

Penny Gurstein, the co-director of the University of British Columbia's Housing Research Collaborative, told CBC last month that a "shocking lack of direction" from governments has led to a lack of purpose-built rental housing. 

"It really is at a crisis level," Gurstein said. "We need all hands on deck around this."