Re: 鈥淗ousing hypocrisy from NDP government,鈥� letter, Dec. 16.
The letter-writer says condos with restricted rentals tend to be lower-priced. I am not sure where he is getting that from. It鈥檚 not the case in Vancouver.
As some people want no rentals, they will pay a premium to live in a rental-restricted building. I looked for a long time to buy a small condo in Vancouver we could rent out until we were ready to use it ourselves one day. Most buildings had no rentals or the several units allowed were rented with wait lists.
I have been a strata president and I聽think that, handled right, opening up more rentals in stratas could go a long way to helping the rental crisis, as well as stopping the 鈥済hettos鈥� of rental-only buildings and owner-only. In Europe, people don鈥檛 make such distinctions.
They mix and are all just neighbours.
And pride in your home is the same if you own or rent.
It is a cultural shift that will take a while to come to sa国际传媒
Incidentally, we sold our little condo as rents are starting to come down 鈥� a good thing, but with maintenance costs rising, we could not afford to subsidize the rent. The new owner will live in it, so one less rental is available. It is a complex situation, but changes to the unique-to-sa国际传媒 strata laws might help.
Penny Noble
Vancouver
