Dismal attitudes toward Metro Vancouver homeownership, but glimmers of hope

It is no secret that housing costs in Metro Vancouver are hard for most to keep up with, and new numbers confirm the dismal attitudes.

A new survey for Habitat for Humanity suggests owners and renters are reaching a breaking point, especially respondents in Metro Vancouver.

Metro Vancouver is in the top spot in Canada for the number of people (53 per cent) who spend more than half of their household income on housing costs.

The region is also number one (48 per cent) when it comes to worries about missing mortgage or rent payments within the next 12 months, and more than eight-in-10 (84 per cent) say owning a home in their community is almost impossible.

But there are some glimmers of hope, with a surprising number of people positive there are solutions to the housing crisis.

The head of Habitat for Humanity says a majority of Canadians (69 per cent) believe solutions can be found.

“They’re looking to all of us to come together to create those solutions,” said President and CEO of Habitat for Humanity Julia Deans.

“[That includes] government using the tools they have and creating new ones to get affordable housing built, whether it’s moving permitting processes through, creating opportunities for affordable housing to be built on land that they own, doing things like taking the GST and HST off affordable owned homes,” she told CityNews.

“It looks like investors and builders investing in getting those homes built and realizing it is going to protect those assets they already have, and it also looks like all of us individuals supporting the politicians who are making these big decisions.”

Deans says some solutions may come up against opposition, but she feels that most people understand that “big bold things” need to be done to tackle the housing crisis.

“It may affect how you and I live, but that’s okay,” she said. “We all realize this is affecting our kids, our families, and the people who live and work around us.”

Deans praises the provincial government’s efforts to try to address housing affordability, which include ordering 10 municipalities to build more than 60,000 units over the next five years or face consequences.

“I think people would be very encouraged by the B.C. government bringing out a whole new array of tools… it is going to depend on other orders of government playing along, and people supporting those decisions, but that is the sign of a progressive government and one that the rest of Canada will be looking to,” she added.