It’s almost cliche to say that the high cost of housing is at the heart of Canada’s affordability crisis. Although much media attention is placed on the home ownership market, for the one-third of households in Canada who are renters it is the soaring cost of rental housing that is top of mind. Renters are…
It’s alright in comparison to the rest of Canada, but speaking as someone in Regina, the increasing price of rent is staggering compared to the increases in past years. Especially considering Regina isn’t exactly a bumping place to be with all the amenities and services you’d get in other cities.
Was in Regina for the weekend (I’m a Bomber fan, don’t hate me) and had a nice time! We were looking up real estate and comparing against Winnipeg and it seemed similar ish. But that doesn’t tell us about the rental market which sometimes has weird emergent phenomena.
If you were benevolent dictator of Canadastan, how would you fix it?
Hey, glad you had a great time! I’ve been meaning to visit Winnipeg but times have been busier than they ever have been 😵💫
Yeah rental market in SK is kinda bizarre because there’s a weirdly high degree of landlord-ism here. Like, I moved here from Ontario a few years ago and I don’t think I’ve met as many people who are landlords “on the side” or multi-generational landlords as I have since living in Regina. I’m not sure why or if that causes changes in the rental market, but I imagine that “oh I hear the real estate market is a seller’s paradise right now. Guess that means I can raise rent!” is no small part. (I was house hunting recently and the number of houses that were clearly the slumlord special that were asking for 400k when the median at the time was 300k? Actually upsetting.) Seeing rents that are comparable to a mortgage payment before utilities didn’t use to be normal here but we’re starting to see it.
Oh jeez, if I had a magic wand? I mean my go-tos are always gonna be “rent control for everyone, huge tax on second properties unless you adopt a rent-to-own scheme, leins on vacant and derelict properties, increase supply tomorrow even if they all look like commie blocks”. But I also actively decided to move from Ontario to Regina, so take my decision making with a grain of salt :p
Even if I dont get the chance to go full Kruschev on housing, then I would at least make services equal to the price you pay to live where you do. That doesn’t solve housing since that would be a justification for expensive housing (or poor services), but it would at least make cost-to-benefit somewhere close to equitable.
Epic answer haha. My other half grew up in a Soviet apartment block, so I get stories from her about that on occasion. Mostly about not owning any of it except their contents. Definitely a “poor but housed” situation – don’t look behind the curtains. I’m not sure it’s a good idea either. During the collapse of the Soviet Union when the power and heat shut off, they were burning furniture in there – but I guess that’s a testament too a solid construction haha.
Oh yeah, I’m Ukrainian so I’ve visited my babushka in her kruchivnya. It’s uhhh cozy but at the same time, she close to where she needs to be, she’s in her community, and like you said, she’s poor but housed.
It’s funny cuz those places were built and billed as temporary housing back then. But they had that saying of nothing being more permanent than a temporary solution, which yeah that ended up tracking :p
(Then again, there is something refreshing about the mindset of “oh hey, we don’t have enough housing? Let’s just build more housing.”)
Among the big cities Montreal is looking pretty good.
Yeah, and the east coast, excluding Halifax.
Prairie cities, except Calgary, doing alright too.
It’s alright in comparison to the rest of Canada, but speaking as someone in Regina, the increasing price of rent is staggering compared to the increases in past years. Especially considering Regina isn’t exactly a bumping place to be with all the amenities and services you’d get in other cities.
Was in Regina for the weekend (I’m a Bomber fan, don’t hate me) and had a nice time! We were looking up real estate and comparing against Winnipeg and it seemed similar ish. But that doesn’t tell us about the rental market which sometimes has weird emergent phenomena.
If you were benevolent dictator of Canadastan, how would you fix it?
Hey, glad you had a great time! I’ve been meaning to visit Winnipeg but times have been busier than they ever have been 😵💫
Yeah rental market in SK is kinda bizarre because there’s a weirdly high degree of landlord-ism here. Like, I moved here from Ontario a few years ago and I don’t think I’ve met as many people who are landlords “on the side” or multi-generational landlords as I have since living in Regina. I’m not sure why or if that causes changes in the rental market, but I imagine that “oh I hear the real estate market is a seller’s paradise right now. Guess that means I can raise rent!” is no small part. (I was house hunting recently and the number of houses that were clearly the slumlord special that were asking for 400k when the median at the time was 300k? Actually upsetting.) Seeing rents that are comparable to a mortgage payment before utilities didn’t use to be normal here but we’re starting to see it.
Oh jeez, if I had a magic wand? I mean my go-tos are always gonna be “rent control for everyone, huge tax on second properties unless you adopt a rent-to-own scheme, leins on vacant and derelict properties, increase supply tomorrow even if they all look like commie blocks”. But I also actively decided to move from Ontario to Regina, so take my decision making with a grain of salt :p
Even if I dont get the chance to go full Kruschev on housing, then I would at least make services equal to the price you pay to live where you do. That doesn’t solve housing since that would be a justification for expensive housing (or poor services), but it would at least make cost-to-benefit somewhere close to equitable.
Epic answer haha. My other half grew up in a Soviet apartment block, so I get stories from her about that on occasion. Mostly about not owning any of it except their contents. Definitely a “poor but housed” situation – don’t look behind the curtains. I’m not sure it’s a good idea either. During the collapse of the Soviet Union when the power and heat shut off, they were burning furniture in there – but I guess that’s a testament too a solid construction haha.
Anyway, fun reply! :)
Oh yeah, I’m Ukrainian so I’ve visited my babushka in her kruchivnya. It’s uhhh cozy but at the same time, she close to where she needs to be, she’s in her community, and like you said, she’s poor but housed.
It’s funny cuz those places were built and billed as temporary housing back then. But they had that saying of nothing being more permanent than a temporary solution, which yeah that ended up tracking :p (Then again, there is something refreshing about the mindset of “oh hey, we don’t have enough housing? Let’s just build more housing.”)
Come on your city at least rhymes with fun!
I know that is about all you have down there minus the CFL.