For the 2023/2024 school year, UBC Housing will increase student housing rent between 3.5 to 8 per cent, creating additional financial stress for students.
UBC Housing announced the increase in an email in late January sent to students currently living in winter and year-round housing.
Associate Vice-President of Student Housing and Community Services Andrew Parr said annual rent increases are decided in consultation with the AMS, Graduate Student Society and student members of the UBC Board of Governors.
During the January 25 AMS Council meeting, AMS President Eshana Bhangu said the student society voiced opposition to the increase during consultations. She added that the AMS also sent correspondence to the Board of Governors opposing the increase.
Parr said UBC acknowledges the ongoing challenges students face around affordability, and the university’s responsibility to maintain UBC’s fiscal performance. During the two years of COVID-19, the university instituted a housing rent freeze.
“All costs that we incur to operate, such as maintenance, utilities and employees’ wages are increasing,” Parr shared. “Our only source of funding to pay for those costs is the rent we charge students.”
Looking forward to the future, Parr said UBC Housing plans to increase student rent by approximately 5 percent to 5.5 percent for the next three years, then return to historically normal levels of 2-3 percent. The revenue generated from the increase in rent will be used to fund 3,300 new beds on campus for students.
Second-year civil engineering student Kevin Cui is frustrated with the news. He currently resides in a shared four-bedroom accommodation in Marine Drive and expects his rent to increase to over $1,000 monthly. He currently takes 45 academic credits during the winter sessions and works 20 hours in two part-time jobs to afford living expenses.
“We're in a time of unprecedented cost of living, yet the university implemented the largest increase in housing rent in recent history.”
On the topic of housing affordability, Parr said the university is committed to maintaining affordable properties for all students.
“Our objective is keeping our rates as absolutely low as possible. When we compare our rates against the local marketplace and against our peers, our unit pricing is well below market.”
For Emerson Landwehr, a second-year psychology student, the proposed rent increase is a significant source of stress. They currently reside in a shared two-bedroom accommodation in Ponderosa Commons, and their rent will increase from $1,100 to $1,300. They currently use food banks to help them afford costs and anticipate that they would not be able to afford groceries with the increases in rent.
“My budget is already very tight. I definitely would not be able to get groceries. I have thought about transferring to a school in my home province to reduce costs, but I love the psychology program here.”
For the upcoming school year, Landwehr plans to move off-campus to more affordable accommodations and drastically reduce their budget. They said UBC Housing has been extremely helpful in accommodating their needs in residence. However, support from UBC Housing since the rent increase news has been disappointing.
“As both me and my roommate have [accessibility needs], UBC Housing was supportive in aiding me with priority housing. We contacted UBC Housing to see if we could extend [our lease] by a week so we can focus on exams during April and not be stressed about finding a new lease and moving. [UBC Housing] said no, so the stress during April will not be good for our mental health.”
Landwehr called for UBC Housing to provide greater flexibility in move-out times for students, especially after significant rent increases.
“If [UBC Housing] increases the rent, many students will move out due to affordability issues. To reduce the amount of people harmed from this change, I hope to have a more flexibility regarding move-out times.”