Renters market tough in PG

PRINCE GEORGE – Finding an affordable rental property in Prince George is a challenge. The average two-bedroom apartment rents for $1,300 to $1,500. According to a recent report, the State of the North,” pulled together by the Northern Development Initiative Trust, 36.8% of renters spend more than 30% of their incomes on shelter, while only 10.2% of homeowners do the same.

“Nobody’s built new rental until quite recently in Prince George for thirty years,” explains Joel McKay, CEO of the NDIT. “What that left us with over the last number of years was a situation where you had old and aging rental complexes. They were mostly filled. There wasn’t a great amount of turnover and the prices for rentals went up.”

And went up they did. A recent report from the Residential Housing Task Force showed, in some cases, rents increasing by an average of more than four percent per year, well above the rate of inflation. With the Task Foce’s work complete, the Province has introduced new legislation to curb rental increases. If passed, rents will be frozen for the remainder of this year and, subsequent to that, rent increases will be capped to the rate of inflation.