The City of Glass has become the city of renters.
In a country where over two-thirds of households own their own home, Vancouver has become a city where a majority of households rent. And it’s not just in the city – around the Metro Vancouver area, 37% of households are renters. Most of these have no viable plan to purchase a home in the city any time soon. It’s a tough pill to swallow for young families coming of age in an environment where home prices are out of reach for all but the upper echelon of income earners.
But since there’s no end in sight to the situation, many people are embracing the renting lifestyle.
There are a lot of benefits, of course – the flexibility, the lack of maintenance headaches, and the location options. You can feasibly rent a spot in one of the city’s great neighborhoods where you’d have no chance of buying. You can also get much more space, more and better amenities and be more deliberate about choices like schools and culture.
For those who are embracing this lifestyle, developers like us at ENM are committed to providing them with reliable, quality long-term rental units in the form of purpose-built rental projects. Our projects, including our new 191-unit Willoughby Walk project, can be assured that every resident has gone through an intensive screening process, and there are plenty of safety and security measures to give our tenants peace of mind.
But maybe best of all, tenants of purpose-built rentals can be assured that their unit will never be taken out from under them for condo redevelopment. They can plan for the future and put down roots in the community – just as they would as homeowners.
Our co-founder, Daniel Greenhalgh, is proud to be part of ENM’s commitment to building purpose-built rental projects. While many Metro municipalities have offered more incentives for rental developments, like extra density, fee waivers and relaxed parking requirements, Daniel feels they should be doing a lot more to address the scarcity of quality rental projects.
“The biggest thing cities can do is to streamline the permitting process. There should a fast track for purpose built rentals, and right now the capacity for most cities to do this just isn’t there. We’d encourage the provincial government to provide more funding for permitting staff and consultants to make this process go faster.”
Since Metro Vancouver families are being funneled towards rentals, they’re going to want to find a place that will feel like a home. Projects like Willoughby Walk will help transform the perception of rentals from something you settle for, to something you settle into.
