Claire Riddell doesn't expect to see a repeat of last year – in fact, that's the last thing she wants.
It's her job to manage the distribution of housing for students at UVic, where almost 40 per cent of those who apply for a room on campus aren't placed.
"We need more housing," she said. "It's that simple."
The school has about 2,400 beds, including 100 for staff and units for families.
Since 2007, the school has guaranteed it will provide a room to all first-years who qualify for housing – something that caused a problem last fall.
Housing Services guaranteed more beds to students than the school could actually provide -- around 120 students had to be housed in common-room lounges around campus until January.
"I think the problem was a computer glitch last year and all of a sudden there was some extra guaranteed students," she said. "But that won't be an issue this year."
But what could be a concern this year is out of UVic’s hands: Greater Victoria has one of the lowest rental vacancy rates in the country, 1.2 per cent, making it a significant challenge for students to find an affordable place to live.
Student Maine McEachern is finding this year's search to be difficult, especially since she's looking from Alberta.
The second-year law student won't be back in Victoria until the end of the month, but she has been looking for more than a week now, posting ads online and scouring Craig's List and the university's off-campus housing website for a reasonable place.
"There seems to be quite a few affordable houses, but not many are available," she said in an e-mail from Alberta. "My experience from house hunting last August was that affordable properties for rent advertised (online) would be gobbled up -- most probably by students actually in Victoria and capable of viewing the properties and meeting the landlords in person -- very rapidly."
McEachern spent all of September last year living on different friends' couches, until she found an available place for Oct. 1.
"The difficulty is being able to secure anything from afar," she said. "And I suspect that landlords are more likely to offer their properties to flesh-and-blood individuals with whom they've spoken face-to-face."
Statistics from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation list that the average monthly rental rate for a two-bedroom apartment in Victoria is $1,043.
On Craig's List and UVic's off-campus housing website, it's almost impossible to find a room in the CRD for under $800. If students do find one, it's likely not conveniently close to campus.
"They may have to move farther away and take a longer bus ride, but there's always cheaper rooms and houses. Most people want to be in the (Greater Victoria Area), but Langford and Colwood are only a 20-minute to half-hour bus ride," said Leigh Urqhuart, off-campus ads clerk with Housing Services. "So there's always cheaper accommodation, you just have to be willing to move further away."
With the combination of a low vacancy rate and a high average monthly rental price, the options in Greater Victoria are not ideally suited for most students, being that many are on fixed budgets.
"August is a highly competitive time to find student housing, as tens of thousands of students are returning simultaneously, all in search of similar rental properties," said McEachern "And, because real estate is at a premium in the city, being a student on a tight budget is even more stressful because one's options are consequently severely limited."
McEachern has budgeted $500 a month to spend on rent, but, for many students, that's more than they can afford.
Craig MacBride, spokesperson for the Ministry of Advanced Education, said this year they've seen a 20 to 30 per cent increase in the number of student loan applications.
Although the final numbers aren't available, he suspects upwards of $200 million worth of student loans will be handed out across the province this year.
In 2008/09, the average amount of financial aid given to B.C. residents attending UVic was $7,583 for an eight-month term (tuition and books account for a large chunk of that). That equates to around $215 a week, below the maximum possible provincial loans of $520 for a student with dependents, and $320 for a student without dependents.
The average amount of financial aid given across all provincial institutions in the province was $7,841 over eight months.
Urqhuart, who monitors the off-campus website postings on a regular basis, says the prices now are higher than they were in May or June, but relatively consistent with what they've been in years past.
"It got off to a slow start (this year) ... The supply was greater than the demand," he said. "Landlords were reducing their prices because they thought (the problem) was price related, but it was because there's less international students coming, so there was less need for accommodation.
"But now things are normal. Most people aren't reducing. The people who are reducing are the ones in far out areas," he added.
With under three weeks to go before school is back in session, McEachern, like hundreds of other students, will continue looking for a place to live come early September. And if she can't find anything affordable by then, she’s not sure what options she’ll have.
"Very few, I fear," she said. "If worse came to worst, I could rent a place further from campus ... and I could commute everyday if I had to."
It's something many students will have to do, at least until the university solves its on-campus housing problem.
Currently one new residence is being built, but Claire Riddell said even when that opens in January 2011, it won't make a dent in what's needed.
Right now the school has a waiting list of 1,400 students hoping to secure a place on campus, on top of the 2,300 who have already been assigned a room. Riddell said that number will likely rise, and they would be lucky to see even 20 of the students on the wait list get a room in September.
For students still in need of a place, Urquhart recommends regularly checking online to see what's available, and researching your options based on a balance of affordability and suitability."
By Kyle Slavin - Saanich News
Published: August 23, 2009 11:00 AM
kslavin@saanichnews.com
IS IT TIME FOR YOU TO MAKE THE JUMP INTO A RENTAL PROPERTY! THE PROOF IS IN THIS ARTICLE THAT A RENTAL PROPERTY NEAR A UNIVERSITY OR COLLEGE IS A GREAT INVESTMENT.
Krista and Sherri own rental properties....they know the market....they know what it takes to be landladies....give them a call for a free consultation and start investing towards your future!
Krista and Sherri
Lawless Brown Mortgage Brokers
nice post.
ReplyDeleteacs student loan consolidation