Editor:
I am always happy to hear about purpose-rental buildings being built. We do not have enough housing to meet our current population demands. That plus the Bank of Canada’s one-trick-pony method of handling inflation is putting more pressure on the price of rental housing and homes for purchase.
What concerns me most, however, is we keep going back to the same solutions and expecting that they will somehow fix the housing crisis. There’s a reference to “market price” rentals in every proposal. For those of us fortunate enough to be homeowners, we are facing the squeeze of ever-increasing mortgage rates and property taxes also based on so-called “market value” — so the government has a vested interest in higher market values, and that’s really the problem.
What everyone is ignoring is the fact our market is hyper-inflated and chronically overpriced. What is called “market rate” for rentals is out of reach for increasing numbers of middle-income earners who are also increasingly giving up on the hope of ever becoming homeowners.
I lost my daughter and both grandchildren to another province in May because my daughter came to the conclusion that she simply can’t afford to raise her family here. Rents are too high; home ownership is a pipe dream. The really sad thing is, she was making good money. The same money is now allowing her to rent a home and save to one day buy a place of her own.
“Affordable housing” needs to be housing that families with median incomes of $60,000 to $110,000 can afford to rent or buy. Until steps are taken to correct the overinflated “market price,” the housing crisis will not only continue, it will deepen. More families will experience separation as our adult children move to more affordable provinces.
Lindsey bat Joseph
📢 SOUND OFF: What needs to be done to help make housing affordable for middle-income earners? Share your ideas — send us a letter.
