Thousands of purpose-built rental units have been added to the Capital Region’s housing stock since 2010 and thousands more are on the way, according to Citified’s data.

 

Over the last seven years alone some 700-units of subsidized, affordable and supportive housing were created throughout Greater Victoria while hundreds more are currently under construction or planned for completion by 2019.

 

And a relatively new phenomenon has also taken hold in Victoria that’s seen aging transient inventory converted into both luxury and subsidized rental accommodations.

 

The Queen Victoria Inn and the Dominion Hotel were transformed into rental apartments in 2014 and 2015 yielding 124 and 97-units, respectively. Another 200-odd hotel units are in the process of being upgraded into rentals at the Harbour Towers hotel complex in James Bay, while several hundred former motel and hotel suites along Gorge Road East and upper Douglas Street were also transitioned into various strata of rental housing. Esquimalt’s EconoLodge Inn & Suites on Craigflower Road at Admirals Road is currently undergoing a phased conversion into 96-units of rental housing, and the former Tally-Ho Hotel complex on Douglas Street near Finlayson Street will soon be turned into over 50-units of supportive housing for hard-to-house individuals.

 

Currently under construction from Sooke to Sidney are 1,700 apartment units and another 2,600 are in various stages of municipal planning, Citified’s data shows. The new-build housing stock also represents the full extent of the housing spectrum, from luxury apartments to supportive homes for seniors.

 

In downtown Victoria specifically, just over 500 rental units are currently underway, with approximately 1,000-units completed since the start of the decade. The range of inventory includes conversions of heritage properties into residences and construction of concrete rental towers.

 

However, despite the nearly decade-long surge in construction after many years of relative inactivity, demand for rental housing continues to push rental rates higher as the region rapidly densifies and demand for housing outstrips supply.

 

Between 2011 and 2016 23,000 new residents called the south Island home, many of whom sought out rental accommodations. And with Victoria’s economy running on overdrive, population growth fuelled by worker in-migration, a natural population increase and the arrival of retirees, suggests demand for rental housing is expected to remain strong and add further pressure on rental rates.

 

Costs for new-build market housing are currently pushing above $1,500 per month for one-bedroom, 500 square foot apartments. New-build two-bedroom units are priced in the $2,000 per month range. Luxury rental penthouses in the city centre are now reaching $3,000 for two-bedroom suites.

 

Complicating the region’s rental supply equation further, Victoria’s stock of aging rental housing provides well over 50,000-units to the market, a significant portion of which will require costly remediation within a decade. The rental housing industry estimates that by 2025 over 20,000 rental homes will be slated for upgrades that may displace existing tenants while yielding higher rents for upgraded units. C