Visions Journal

Marc Lee

Reprinted from the Housing as a Human Right issue of Visions Journal, 2022, 17 (2), pp. 7-8

The pause on most economic and social activity during the COVID-19 pandemic, including large-scale furloughs of retail and service industry workers, revealed large inequalities and insecurities with regards to housing. While housing affordability was already one of BC’s most pressing public policy issues, the pandemic amplified pre-existing patterns and inequities. This is the context in which we are exploring the connection between housing and mental health throughout this issue of Visions. This connection is universal but particularly strong for those in precarious housing situations or facing other housing stresses, such as crowding or isolation.

As we push forward in a world where other shocks are guaranteed—case in point: BC’s 2021 heat dome and subsequent wildfires—we need to rethink housing less as a market and more as a human right that supports economic security and physical and mental health.

A shock not felt equally by all

After March 2020 many high-income knowledge workers were able to switch to working from home with little or no lost income. Statistics Canada reports that among top earners, almost two thirds of employees worked from home compared to one in 10 for low-income employees.¹ Households whose work lives were not heavily disrupted typically experienced an increase in saving due to having fewer chances to spend their money under COVID-19 restrictions.

Economically, BC’s initial shutdown put the squeeze on renters in particular. The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’ BC Office conducted a province-wide survey near the end of the shutdown period (May 2020). We found that more than half of renters had lost income.² Renters had lower incomes to begin with, and typically had fewer savings to cover necessities in the event of a loss of income. One third had less than a month’s savings to survive on, and nearly two thirds had two months’ savings or less.

When confronted with the combined health and economic shocks of COVID-19, federal and provincial policy-makers had to revamp the social safety net in a matter of weeks. The federal Canada Emergency Response Benefit and Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy proved central in providing income support for those who had lost work. While the federal government did most of the heavy lifting fiscally, BC stood out among the provinces for providing additional income supports for workers, additional benefits for families and seniors and elevated supports for people on social assistance.

On the housing front, BC brought in its Temporary Rent Supplement Program, with up to $300 per month (for four months) going to landlords for eligible households without dependents and $500 per month for those with dependents. The BC government also assisted renters with a temporary eviction freeze, which was withdrawn by September 2020, and a freeze on rent increases, which ends in December 2021.

The combined impact of these unprecedented measures greatly supported housing security. More people were able to pay their rent and avoid additional hardships like being evicted during the shutdown. That said, it was generally accepted that landlords would (eventually) be paid in full, even as other sectors of the economy (tourism and entertainment, for example) took substantial hits and a large minority of households found themselves without employment or at reduced hours.

One bright spot for renters was the collapse of housing demand from tourism, business travel and foreign students. Greater availability of rental apartments was reflected in higher vacancy rates and lower rents. Housing units that had been providing short-term rentals re-entered the long-term rental market.³ COVID restrictions revealed that a large portion of Vancouver’s housing stock has been diverted to serve the needs of (well-heeled) visitors to the detriment of renters and the city’s overall quality of life.

With hotels largely unoccupied, both the federal and BC governments stepped in to buy a number of empty hotels to permanently house homeless people. In Vancouver this led to an additional 767 beds at a public cost of $250 million by end of April 2021.⁴ These actions were necessary to house large numbers of people camping in public parks in Vancouver and Victoria.  

Post-pandemic housing solutions in BC

By early 2021, however, a new surge in real estate prices hit BC, with strong growth in rural areas and smaller towns alongside major centres like Vancouver. Propelled by ultra-low interest rates and too much time constrained in existing homes, pent-up demand was unleashed, pushing home prices past previous highs. Out was the sense that we were all in this together—it was back to the competition for getting into the housing market or fearing being left out. A July 2021 poll found that almost half of homeowners and a quarter of renters were contemplating moving due to high housing costs.⁵

All of this informs how we need be thinking about housing going forward. High rents increase the vulnerability to a job loss, such as what we witnessed during the COVID-19 pandemic. But even those in good rental situations may feel constrained in their ability to move due to the much higher rents they would face if they had to move. As home prices soar, renters face a bigger and bigger wall separating them from the dream of owning their own home, while existing homeowners win the real estate lottery.

In our COVID-19 survey of British Columbians, we uncovered strong public support for an expansion of non-market housing, a continuation of the eviction ban and rent freeze and urgent action to provide homes for people without them. In other countries, public or non-market housing has long been part of the solution. Canada can also look to its own history of building dedicated, affordable housing in the post-war years. After a few decades of government inaction, there is much work needed to catch up. Metro Vancouver alone needs about 10,000 new non-market units per year to address population growth and deal with the backlog.⁶

COVID-19 tells us that housing is too important to be left to the market. We need public and non-profit approaches that emphasize affordable and adequate housing for all. To the extent that housing is viewed a human right it will also have positive benefits for mental health.