The main lobby group for landlords around the province says a rent freeze proposed by a city council candidate in Vancouver will only harm renters’ options.
Speaking on Steele and Drex on CKNW, Landlord B.C. CEO David Hutniak says the issues with the rental market won’t be solved overnight.
“The last thing we need is any sort of measures that would discourage the building of more purposeful rental. The reality is her suggestion will simply shut down the projects that we are seeing in the pipeline.”
City council candidate Jean Swanson says renters are spending far too much of their income on accommodation.
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Hutniak says he admires Swanson’s background and her advocacy efforts, but thinks a freeze will simply result in more landlords listing their properties on short-term rental sites like Airbnb.
“Those folks are already wrestling whether or not they want to be in the long-term rental business. This is why Airbnb and other home-sharing programs have really caught on so aggressively in Vancouver.”
Swanson wants the city to enforce a program to freeze rental rates.
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