1938 replies to this topic

[Victoria Watcher]

Tenants of a low-income apartment building in Esquimalt are looking for answers after they were all recently served with eviction notices.

Ahead of a tenancy branch hearing scheduled for May 2, the residents at 519 Sturdee Street are scrambling to fight the eviction order, find somewhere else to live and are calling on the government to protect vulnerable renters.

Residents have been offered $5,000 per unit to leave without challenging the evictions through the residential tenancy branch. Ilene Koculyn, 68, is one of 30 people to receive eviction notices. While some are taking the buyout, Koculyn is not.



https://www.vicnews....-notice-7351731


What’s a low income apartment?

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 30 April 2024 - 01:22 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Along with advocates from Together Against Poverty Society, the residents are calling for better compensation for tenants facing renoviction, and are asking all levels of government to better protect vulnerable renters living in similar buildings.

Ironically, that building was recently used as a filming location in the Netflix miniseries Maid -- where it was portrayed as a subsidized housing site.

https://www.cfax1070...-speak-out.html

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 30 April 2024 - 01:25 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Ilene Koculyn says she could end up with no place to live come September if a planned eviction for renovations goes ahead at her Esquimalt apartment building.

 

“This is just ridiculous,” said Koculyn, who has lived in the building at 519 Sturdee St. for 13 years. “People are considered throwaways.”

 

The 68-year-old retiree pays $830 a month for a one-bedroom unit, out of a pension of about $1,800 a month.

 

Koculyn said she’s resigned to her fate and has already started packing, in hopes one of her friends might be able to take her in.

 

“We need affordable rentals,” she said. “There are so many people — they’re all in the same boat.”

 

Every tenant in the 30-suite building has received an eviction notice for September to allow for repairs, said Douglas King, executive director of Together Against Poverty Society, which held a news conference at the complex on Tuesday.

 

“That means the landlord is trying to basically clear out the entire building so that the building can be renovated.”

 

Rents could roughly double as a result, he said. Monthly rents at the site currently range from about $8oo to about $1,500, with some tenants having been there for up to 20 years.

 

 

 

https://www.timescol...omeless-8678236

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 01 May 2024 - 01:27 AM.

[dasmo]

Does she know it’s because of students being actively recruited to come here to “attend” online schools? 1,000,000 last year alone. With many companies doing the recruiting. One getting a whopping $300,000,000 in investment and their sole aim is recruiting foreign students to come here.

[Victoria Watcher]

Capital Daily:



Victoria one-bedroom units’ average asking rents remain above $2,100, and two-beds above $2,700, per the latest Rentals.ca report. The April marks of $2,113 (10th in Canada) and $2,769 (6th) are up 5% and 6% from the rental site’s report from this time a year ago.

The region hit these thresholds last fall and has mostly hovered in that range since then, though two-beds have actually declined slightly after peaking above $2,900. Currently Vancouver, Burnaby, and Toronto are all above $3,000.

The latest report from Zumper, another rental listings site whose report covers fewer cities, has those priciest cities becoming even pricier recently, with all three rising for the first time since last year. That report had Victoria 4th-worst in Canada for one-bedroom costs, with asking prices again around that $2,100 threshold.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 19 May 2024 - 05:51 AM.

[spanky123]

^ Not disagreeing that rents have gone up, but the problem with these sites is that the sample sizes are really small and often are heavily weighted by management companies rather than individual landlords.

[Victoria Watcher]

Well, anyone can just go to FB Marketplace and or Craigslist or Devon Properties and see where we are at.

[dasmo]

This is what mi

 

^ Not disagreeing that rents have gone up, but the problem with these sites is that the sample sizes are really small and often are heavily weighted by management companies rather than individual landlords.

This is what MMI will get rid of. All those illegal cash based affordable suites in those SFHs.... 

[Victoria Watcher]

Twenty-eight new transitional apartments for people coming out of the correctional system are set to open in Victoria in the spring of 2026.

 

A six-storey building to be constructed at 736 Princess Ave. will include 28 studio apartments and a new headquarters for the John Howard Society of Victoria, which provides employment, housing, mentorship and restorative-justice programs.

 

The building, which will be owned and operated by the John Howard Society, will feature a cafe with outdoor seating to be staffed by John Howard clients to help them gain work experience and educational spaces with a demonstration kitchen and classrooms.

 

Construction starts this month and residents are expected to move in in 2026.

 

Manj Toor, executive director of John Howard Society of Victoria, said many people who enter the criminal justice system are homeless, while those with homes can lose them while they are serving their sentence.

 

 

 

 

https://www.timescol...-prison-9103567

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 19 June 2024 - 12:02 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Music teacher looking for new home after fire destroys top-floor suite

 

Jamie Kozak, who lost a cat and pet rats in the blaze, was at band practice in Esquimalt when the fire broke out

 

https://www.timescol...r-suite-9103647

 

 

“No one thinks their house is going to burn down and I was in the top suite so I wasn’t worried about flooding, but everyone needs renter’s insurance because your house might burn down,” she said.

 

Kozak, along with all of the other displaced tenants, is looking for housing. She’s taken a week off teaching, which she usually does six days a week.

 

“It’s just hard for me that I can’t work right now because all my belongings smell like smoke and I keep crying throughout the day so I can’t be around kids when I’m this sensitive.”

 

Kozak and her mother said thus far, landlords have been sympathetic to her plight. She’s looking for a pet-friendly rental in Greater Victoria at a maximum of $2,000 a month.

 

Kozak and other tenants were given emergency housing at the Chateau Victoria Hotel, a high-end hotel in downtown Victoria, until today. After that, the two will be camping, with friends, and essentially couch-surfing.

[Victoria Watcher]

Average asking rent in Canada up 7% from a year ago, even as price growth slows

Shelter has long been a driving force of high inflation


https://www.cbc.ca/n...-june-1.7259212

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 10 July 2024 - 01:22 PM.

[Nparker]

Average asking rent in Canada up 7% from a year ago...

 

Well done 

[Victoria Watcher]

Victoria one-beds are up more than 5% from a year ago, and two-beds are up more than 7%. That’s per the latest Rentals.ca report, which has Victoria rent rising since last summer—despite BC as a whole plateauing with a 0% change.

Greater Victoria is now at $2,178 for advertised one-bedroom rentals (8th in Canada) and $2,859 for two-beds (6th in Canada). That remains similar to, but above, the price seen last year and in 2020 before a pandemic-related dip.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 14 July 2024 - 05:28 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

 

 

 

 

I always found this a curious building.   It's never been upscale, despite the location.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome to this exceptional West Fairfield investment opportunity (Marlborough House contains 9 authorized residential suites). It is situated at the corner of Marlborough St. and Woodstock Ave. on two lots totaling 13,477 square feet. The location offers an unparalleled blend of urban convenience and natural beauty, minutes from downtown Victoria and steps from Victoria’s famous Beacon Hill Park and spectacular Dallas Road waterfront. The property has been owned since the 70’s by an out-of-province family who now have other interests. Situated on two lots, the property offers an investor the potential of a very profitable future multi-residential redevelopment site while yielding an ongoing acceptable return from the nine residential suites (rents are below market; lots of room to increase return). Don’t let this investment opportunity pass you by. Call to receive an NDA in order to receive the financials and other relevant information.

 

 

https://www.realtor....-fairfield-west

 

$2,984,000

 

 

51 Marlborough St
Victoria, British Columbia V8V4A6

 

 

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 15 July 2024 - 10:47 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Tenancy branch approves evictions from Esquimalt apartment building

Rents in the building — which currently range from about $800 to $1,500 a month — could double after the planned renovation, says a tenancy advocacy group.


https://www.timescol...uilding-9230102



She said several tenants have to move out by Sept. 30 after accepting a $5,000 payout from the landlord on condition they give up the right to challenge their eviction.

Others, including her, who signed a later agreement through the Together Against Poverty Society, can stay until Nov. 30 if need be, Koculyn said.







Interesting that we do not get to learn the financial details of the latter agreement.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 17 July 2024 - 04:33 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

More than half of the tenants challenging the renoviction took the ($5,000) buyout at some point during this process, leaving only a handful left continuing the challenge. Those people will now get to stay in their apartments until the end of November, but will only get one month's rent as compensation when they do move out. 

 

They will also get right of first refusal if they want to return, but King called this essentially worthless with over a year that renovations will be ongoing, and the tenants having to pay market rents upon return.

 

https://www.vicnews....dispute-7444480

[Nparker]

I haven't been able to pay below market property taxes since purchasing my condo. I am definitely paying much more tax now than in 2005. And while my property has gone up in value, it's a moot point since I would have to pay just as much or more to buy the equivalent condo elsewhere in the CoV today. I am not sure why renters feel they should be immune to rising costs.

[Beacon]

There's an adult discussion to be had here.  Yes, it would be horrible to have to leave and not be able to afford another place, but c'mon, these people had all the notice in the world and able to see what the current market rents are.  When what you are paying is much less than the current market rent you get these scenarios happening.  it's an imbalance caused by rent controls.

 

These people may end up moving to lower cost cities now as a result.  If you are paying below market rent and couldn't afford market rent here, then manage your risk!  You are one eviction away from having to move to another city on someone else's schedule.

 

I was renting a below market place getting a steal of a deal but decided to move and buy a place at a waaaay higher price just so I could sleep better at night.  Uprooting one's family on someone else's schedule would not be fun. 

[Victoria Watcher]

This wins the Golden MLS^TM award for least amount of effort ever spent on a $3M plus listing.

 

 

 https://www.realtor....toria-james-bay

 

 

[Victoria Watcher]

James Bay renter Darlene Haynes can relax now that her Michigan Street apartment building will remain affordable, following its purchase by the Greater Victoria Housing Society.

 

The non-profit society worked with the provincial government’s Rental Protection Fund, which put up about $8 million for the 44-unit 430 Michigan St. complex and about $4.6 million for a 24-unit building at 1500 Chambers St. in Fernwood.

 

The fund has also provided about $1.2 million in grants as part of its capital contributions for building improvements.

 

Both buildings have rents that are an average of 37 per cent below market rate and are close to transit services and stores.

 

The society has committed to retaining the existing rental rates upon unit turnover, with adjustments for inflation.

 

Haynes, who has lived in the Michigan Street building for 14 years, said it had been up for sale a few times, creating a lot of uncertainty for residents.

 

“I guess the constant [fear] is: Are we going to be evicted? Are there going to be renovictions?” she said. “That’s way up there in terms of the fears, especially for people that are low-income and have lived for here a very long time.”

 

 

 

 

https://www.timescol...urchase-9347519

 

 

 

 

The non-profit society worked with the provincial government’s Rental Protection Fund, which put up about $8 million for the 44-unit 430 Michigan St. complex and about $4.6 million for a 24-unit building at 1500 Chambers St. in Fernwood.

 

The fund has also provided about $1.2 million in grants as part of its capital contributions for building improvements.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So about $13.8M for 68 units.    

 

 

 

 

Or:

 

The funding provided GVHS with $11.3 million to acquire the two properties. This purchase will ensure the preservation of 68 housing units, from studios to two-bedroom apartments. An additional $1.2 million renewal grant will ensure the units’ sustainability over time.

 

https://www.nanaimob...g-units-7484162

 

 

 

 

 

Or:

 

Two centrally located multi-family properties changed hands in Victoria on June 12. Hamlet House at 1500 Chambers Street and Arlington Court Apartments at 430 Michigan Street sold to the Greater Victoria Housing Society, which paid $21.2 million with assistance from the province’s Rental Protection fund. The sale price was just short of the list price of $21.3 million. Together, the properties have 68 units, for an average sale price of $311,397 a unit. Grant Evans and Ken Cloak of Colliers Multifamily Advisory Group represented the vendor while Anna Wray of Colliers represented the purchaser.

 

PRICE | $21,175,000

 

https://www.westerni...-profit-9143234

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 14 August 2024 - 05:51 AM.