Ep. 540: Rental Development: Risky Business
Guests: Beau Jarvis and Kerri Jackson
The rental vacancy rate in Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley is tight – less than one per cent, year over year. “That, on its own, puts pressure on the market driving up rental rates,” says Kerri Jackson of Concert Properties. Building new supply is a long and challenging process in a remarkably complex municipal landscape made up of 21 different jurisdictions.
Add in factors such as a decades-long shift away from purpose built rental in favour of condo developments that once sold to investors became rental properties. Beau Jarvis of Wesgroup says, “Recently, purpose-built rental housing has resurfaced as a way of easing the tight supply – a good idea, but one that developers are hard-pressed to jump onside with minimal uptake from developers.”
As of October 2024, there are minimal purpose-built rental properties throughout the Metro Vancouver and Fraser Valley region. Those properties are a step in the right direction; however, they do not come close to the volume of new projects that are required to meet demand.
We invited Kerri Jackson of Concert Properties and Beau Jarvis of Wesgroup to join us for Conversation That Matters about the value of purpose-built rentals and why it’s a risky business.
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Check out their profile on our partnered program, Careers That Matter!
