Falling B.C. rents give some renters more leverage, but advocates say affordability challenges remain

For years, finding a place to rent in B.C. often felt like a race people couldn’t afford to lose.

Renters competed against multiple applicants, moved quickly when a listing appeared and often had little choice but to accept whatever price was being asked.

Now, the rental market is beginning to shift.

A new report from Rentals.ca and Urbanation shows asking rents across B.C. are falling faster than anywhere else in Canada and found average asking rents dropped 5.3 per cent over the past year, the largest decline among Canadian provinces.

On Vancouver Island, where renters have faced some of the country’s toughest affordability pressures, the change offers a sign that conditions may finally be easing.

Victoria remains one of B.C.’s more expensive rental markets, with average apartment and condo rents around $2,245. For comparison, some of Canada’s more affordable rental markets, including Regina and Saskatoon had average rents below $1,500 in June.

The report also stated purpose-built apartment and condo rents in B.C. fell 5.1 per cent year over year. Vancouver has seen one of the biggest shifts, with purpose-built rental prices now down 18.5 per cent from their peak in July 2023.

But Vancouver Island housing advocates say the improvement is not reaching every renter equally.

Douglas King, executive director of the Together Against Poverty Society, describes the current situation as “a tale of two rental markets.”

“For the higher end of the market, you’re going to have a lot of bargaining power when you approach a landlord,” King said.

“The other side of the spectrum for lower income tenants and older buildings, we’re not necessarily seeing those decreases in rents and demand is still quite high.”

King says the decline is welcome after years of steep increases, but he adds the biggest test will be whether more affordable units become easier to find.

For many renters, especially students, people with disabilities, families and those on fixed incomes, competition remains high.

“If you’re trying to rent a one-bedroom apartment for $1,400 or $1,500, there’s going to be a lot of other people to compete with,” King said. “If you’re looking at one of those new units that’s come up in our purpose-built rentals for over $2,000 a month, that’s when you’re going to start to see a little more bargaining power.”

“We’ve seen a lot of supply hit the market, which obviously is a good thing,” King said. “But we’re seeing a lot on the higher end, and not really much movement on the lower end. In fact, if anything, we’re still losing some of our low-income units.”

The province says increasing housing supply remains a priority.

Housing Minister Christine Boyle says B.C. will match the federal government’s new Build Communities Strong Fund at nearly $1.6 billion over 10 years, for a total of up to $3.2 billion, to help lower the cost of building more multi-unit housing.

Boyle says the recent changes show some renters are gaining more power.

“Now, we see renters able to negotiate their rent down because similar units in their building are going for less, or move to newer apartments at better prices,” Boyle said in a statement.

King says provincial efforts to increase rental supply, including supporting purpose-built rentals and restricting short-term rentals, have helped move the market in the right direction.

“Prioritizing purpose-built rentals being created over condominiums was really a good decision,” he said. “I think we’re starting to see the benefits of that.”

But he says it is too soon to declare the affordability crisis solved.

“It’s far too early to declare victory and say that we have an affordable housing market or a healthy housing market,” King said. “We’re still very far removed from that.”

King also warns that some low-income renters remain vulnerable, particularly as older buildings face redevelopment pressures.

“We’re starting to see more older buildings targeted for renovations and then the tenants replaced for the purposes of getting those units back on the market for higher rent,” he said. “That’s a real threat to a lot of low-income tenants.”

The national average asking rent in June was $2,033, while many renters continue searching for homes priced below $2,000.

The report also found B.C. and Ontario are the only provinces where rents have declined over the past three years. In B.C., rents are down about eight per cent during that time.

For renters who have spent years competing for whatever was available, the market is beginning to look different.

But advocates say the real test will be whether those changes reach the renters who need relief most, those searching for lower cost homes where competition remains high and affordable options remain scarce.