Editorial: Calgarians want housing. Now.

By Gauntlet Editorial Board

The Harper government announced a new string of amendments to Canada’s mortgage rules that came into effect on July 9, 2012. These changes to the borrowing rules were made in part to avoid the borrowing crisis that has set the America economy into its current state of turmoil with entire cities filing for bankruptcy. While the logic behind the changes seems timely as fear of economic downturn spreads across the Canadian boader, there are serious consequences on the renting market as Canadians have fewer buying options.

Calgary is the third most expensive Canadian city to live in. In conjunction with a rapidly growing population, the rental housing market experienced massive inflation that is making it increasingly difficult for individuals seeking a place to live in Calgary. Websites like RentFaster.ca are flooded with Calgarians desperately looking for affordable places to live, which drives up housing prices. Another issue stems from landlords favouring certain candidates — this has caused many potential tenants to feel stigmatized.

The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation predicts the current 1.9 per cent vacancy rate in Calgary will drop to 1.5 per cent by next year. While it’s easy to celebrate the population boom, the city has yet to make a move in order to deal with an imminent crisis of where to house new Calgarians with a mosaic of incomes, as well as how to house current Calgarians who are already struggling to find room and board in a competitive market.

These new amendments affect all income brackets, but none as much as lower income Calgarians who are forced into less desirable rental areas that are higher in crime and further from amenities and job centres. The other problem is that house prices in less desirable areas are also increasing as the city attempts to gentrify historically lower income areas, like the East Village renewal project. What we see instead of more options for the average Calgarian are plans for large expensive condo high-rises, which new buyers will have a hard time affording especially with the changes to mortgage rules. Once large real-estate companies buy most of the housing units in these neighbourhoods, the renting market will only continue to suffer. In many of these cases, maximum rental profits are put over providing affordable living spaces.

There must be reflection on the high cost and compromised standard of living in Calgary as things begin to get much worse for potential tenants in the city. Calgary City Council must make a move quickly to offer more affordable housing in order to compete with an inflated renting market.

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