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20 September 2002
uwRyan.com This website is meant to provide value to UW student by delivering information. It will also supplement the column that I write for Imprint by providing extra information on some of the topics about which I will write in addition to the text of each column. Please provide feedback on what I write as well as give me suggestions of topics to cover. You can send e-mail to me to ryan[at]uwryan[dot]com. |
The state of Housing IIIs housing in Waterloo unraveling?
On Sunday, Students' Council resolved to effect a city bylaw change to alleviate housing restriction by applying pressure in different ways. One is to increase student voter turnout in municipal elections and hence allow our representatives to exert more political power in the interest of students; the other is to apply pressure to the city by not negotiating with a regional government divison on a related issue — the issue of a mandatory fee and universal bus pass for university students. Council's hope is that these measures will pressure the city to repeal the 75 metre spacing restriction on lodging houses — what they call minimum distance of separation or MDS. During the discussion of the two resolutions councillors accepted the notion that there is not enough affordable, high quality housing close to the university. This is unfortunate because students' acceptance of this notion is mainly anecdotal and confounded by self-interest. Feds VP Education Ryan O'Connor wrote in a press release, "Placing restrictions on the amount of lodging houses which can be licensed has an adverse affect on the housing supply in Waterloo, which in turn has an extremely negative impact on housing quality and students' access to their universities." We as students have started making a case for how the restriction affects the lodging house market but not that there is a need for change. We need evidence to back up that more housing is needed. Some suggest that the for rent signs are an indicator that students will not be short of housing in the coming year. On uwstudent.org, Matt Goyer posted ". . .I've sure seen a lot of vacancy signs around town this fall so this can't be such a pressing issue." As I reported on 27 June, demand for off-campus rental housing will increase by more than 1,000 beds this year and next year to meet the demand of the growing student population. This number accounts for planned growth in on-campus housing and projected enrolment growth, but doesn't include non-student rental demand. Of these vacancies — we should consider why they are still vacant — those that are of acceptable quality will be able to absorb some of the demand. New spaces however, will have to be created or found for all other growth in enrolment. It should be the hope of leaders in the student community that all students have housing of a minimum level of quality. It is the desire of each student that he has housing of good quality and value. Given the necessity for a place to live, standards for acceptable quality decrease when housing spaces are scarce. Canadian Mortgage Housing Corporation is Canada's national housing agency which provides a variety of housing related products and services to help address the housing needs of Canadians. As a part of their services they collect information on the housing market and offer it through their Web site. According to data provided by the CMHC, the vacancy rate in apartments in Waterloo has been below two per cent since 1994. Changes in rent remained below three per cent from 1995 to 1998. Over the three years from 1999 to 2001 rents have increased by four per cent, six per cent and ten per cent respectively. With demand for housing increasing in an tight rental market with rents increasing, housing will be a concern for students for at least the next quinquennium. We must find out all we can about the situation and do all we can to affect it. Questions still remain. What will the city do to address the situation and how much can students affect the process? |