Affordable housing hard to find in Richmond, B.C., as residents watch condo construction boom

Everything seems to be getting more expensive. Food, gasoline and housing prices are on the rise while paycheques are slow to keep pace.

The CBC News series Priced Out explains why you're paying more at the cash register and how Canadians are coping with the high cost of everything.

Richmond, B.C., is suffering from a shortage of affordable rental housing despite high levels of construction, says resident Lisa O'Sullivan. 

That's because the bulk of new construction in the city is creating privately owned condos, not purpose-built rentals. Data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation says Richmond recorded 703 rental housing starts and 5,495 strata condo starts from 2018 to 2021. 

O'Sullivan, her son Cyril Gunn, cousin Sandra McMath and mother Betty McGuire currently live in a building that's shared by another family of renters, and are looking for a place that gives them their own space. 

O'Sullivan says they want to stay in Richmond, but can't find a place they can afford within the city after searching for two years.

"We've been looking online, we've been applying to B.C. Housing to help us," she said. "But there's only one or two [suitable] places in Richmond, and they're beyond our rental budget."

The home is also drafty, with a whiff of mould and a springy porch that feels like it's on the verge of collapse, the family says.

"One-bedrooms now are $1,600 a month, some are $1,800, and those townhomes that aren't even that big are $3,000 a month," McMath added.

Skyrocketing rents in Richmond

It's a sentiment shared by Richmondite David Yang, who's lived in the community for most of his life. 

"The rents have gone up so high, and to not even be able to find that supply out there, a lot of the younger generation who grew up in Richmond are becoming disenchanted," Yang said.

Yang, a recent graduate from the University of British Columbia, says there are areas in Richmond where rents are a bit cheaper, but those areas don't have easy access to transit, and any money saved on rent would be spent on a car.

O'Sullivan says she and her family reached out to the City of Richmond to inquire about the Low-End Market Rental (LEMR) Program, a municipal initiative to provide cheaper rental housing, but were told that not enough three- or four-bedroom units were available. 

The Rental Market Report from CMHC includes only privately built developments containing three or more units. Under that criteria, no new ready-to-occupy rental housing was added to the market in Richmond from July 2018 to June 2021.  

Lack of good data on  affordable housing

In an email to CBC, city officials dispute CMHC's findings.

"The CMHC Market Rental Report paints an incomplete picture of the Richmond market by choosing to exclude the almost 1,330 new rental units that were approved since 2018, as well the 344 affordable housing units built and occupied in the city during that same time frame," wrote Clay Adams, director of communications for the city, in the email.

John Roston, founder and coordinator of the Richmond Rental Housing Advocacy Group, says the city often counts housing starts that are not yet complete in its own data. Even with starts added to the mix, the number of rental housing units is still far below what's needed.

"Richmond has been building some rentals, just very little," Roston said.

Food security and affordability

Deirdre Whalen, president of the Richmond Poverty Reduction Coalition, says the lack of affordable housing options puts a strain on support services. She says more than 1,700 people a week are using the food bank, and 52 per cent of them live in market rentals. 

"Only five per cent of the people coming to the food bank are in subsidized rentals. That's not somebody saying, 'Oh, I don't feel like cooking, I'm going to stand in line in the rain to get a free meal,'" Whalen said. "These are people who cannot afford food as well as rent."

Whalen says the connection between food insecurity and housing is a good indicator of where the greatest housing needs are.

"If you can house somebody, you've got a handle on food insecurity. If you can house somebody, you have a handle on child poverty," she added.

Roston, an unsuccessful candidate for city council in last year's byelection, says, "We have a problem in that the strata condos are being built for investors. So, in short, they're creating the demand. The question for the politicians is, 'Who's voting for me? Is it the people who want to speculate on real estate by buying a condo? Or is it people with much lower income, who desperately need rental housing?'"

Richmond's future

O'Sullivan feels the lack of rental housing in Richmond is a sign that the city's priorities are in the wrong place. With a municipal election coming up, she wants to see more effort from leaders to build affordable units.

"It's hard for people to put all their money into rent, and not have enough for food," O'Sullivan said. "I ask the City of Richmond when are they going to have this affordable housing?"

Yang agrees, saying, "Richmond is the fourth-largest city in B.C. There definitely needs to be more work done on that front."