FFWD Weekly
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| LETTER Re: Calgary housing crunch (September 25, 1997) Well, I've become one of the rising victims of the "housing crunch" in Calgary. Not, granted, of the "tossed out of my apartment and living on the street" fraternity (yet), but rather, one who has been given notice of a rent increase. Now, don't get me wrong - I don't begrudge the holding company a reasonable increase - for there is nothing wrong, per se, with my building - in a big, grey, boxy, boring, built-during-the-last-boom-paid-for-since-1985-kind-of-way. I've grown used to scalding and tepid running water, my neighbor's water burbling up in my kitchen sink, the decorative thermostat, the '70s decor in the lobby, an intercom only marginally better than two cans and a string, and showering uphill. And perhaps it might seem churlish to suggest that the rent I agreed to pay (nearly two years ago) was at the high end of the market then. But things have changed in Calgary. Interest rates on mortgages in that time have gone up around two per cent, and the inflation rate is around two per cent, too. So, naturally a rent increase of a few pennies short of 10 per cent is fair, yes? Of course, it might be pointed out the City of Calgary has set this precedent on its own properties, so what's a private company, keen on making a buck (okay, several bucks) to do? Why, even September's Western Investor Magazine commented on this action by the city - "Investors, of course, can only be pleased, as it sends a very public signal that the Calgary market will indeed bear considerable rental increases." Oh, yeah? Well, apparently, yes. Did you know that there is no maximum rate a landlord can raise your rent in this province? (That bit of joy from the Landlord & Tenant Advisory.) Also, I've read that investors won't start to build new buildings for renters until the rental rate is above $10-per-square-foot for an apartment. What does seem to get lost here, however, is that the current boom in Calgary is relying on the same old products that crashed and burned last time around - oil, gas, foreign trade, the markets - and we've all witnessed their stability of late. Just a recent one-per-cent increase in the mortgage rates caused heart constriction in the local housing building boom. While I hesitate to use the term "fast buck" or the word "greed" here, they're as good as any. As for me, I'll be looking at my options. Barry W. Cook, |