What’s the state of student housing?

Finding affordable student housing is a concern for many students returning to the University of Alberta. To understand the state of student housing in the university area, The Gateway spoke with various people engaged in housing advocacy and research.

After having faced difficulties finding affordable housing, three U of A alumni developed the Elev app to help students facing similar issues. Elev features tools that streamline the renting process for students, Elev co-founder Jean Bruce Koua explained.

“We’re a platform that’s on a mission to solve the student housing crisis, and that’s for any students that’s looking for housing off campus or just any students in general looking for housing.”

According to Koua, the students Elev has assisted this summer are mainly concerned with affordability in their search for housing, as well as finding furnished rentals.

“This is the peak season right now where we have so many students looking for housing and on the platform,” Koua said in an interview in August. “All the listings that we have that are essentially going for an affordable rate are gone. The moment Elev will post them, they pretty much go within the week.” 

He’s found that students are often willing to live farther from campus if it means lower costs. 

As a part of the Housing Accelerator Fund Action Plan, the City of Edmonton has passed a $15 million Downtown Student Housing Incentive to generate affordable student housing in the downtown core. Under this program, the City of Edmonton will provide grants of up to $30,000 for student housing projects.

Heather Curtis, a spokesperson for the city, said in a statement to The Gateway that “this $15 million program was created to encourage the creation of student housing that will be rented at below-market prices and located in the heart of the city. Living downtown offers easy access to nearby campuses, transit connections, local businesses, work experience opportunities and amenities.”

Students make vulnerable renters, according to Collins

The Gateway spoke with Damian Collins, housing scholar at the U of A and director of the Community Housing Canada Research Partnership, to learn more about Edmonton’s housing market and how it’s impacting students. 

Students face housing instability in part due to short leases that make them vulnerable to higher rents each year, and low incomes exacerbated by the rise of youth unemployment in Alberta, Collins explained. 

In reference to the Downtown Student Housing Incentive’s focus on increasing density in the downtown core, Collins said this approach “has benefits for housing [and] … for the neighbourhood,” in terms of making it “a more vibrant place.”

Although the U of A is across the river, because of the LRT, the downtown core “is also pretty accessible for U of A students,” he added.

Collins also noted that there is “increasing density around the U of A north campus.”

“[It’s] maybe not quite as dramatic as what’s potentially going to happen downtown, but we’re definitely seeing an increase in building heights.”

While increasing the supply of rental housing both downtown and near the U of A north campus are “valuable steps” in addressing student housing concerns, “we also need to make sure that students have adequate income, and that’s a complicated factor,” Collins said.

UASU and ESA to continue student engagement in housing advocacy

On August 5, the U of A Students’ Union (UASU) released a statement welcoming the Downtown Student Housing Incentive.

At the August 12 meeting of the UASU Students’ Council, The Gateway asked Vice-president (external) Abdul Abbasi and Vice-president (operations and finance) and Edmonton Student Alliance (ESA) Chair Nathan Thiessen how the UASU and ESA’s plans to advocate for student housing and affordability. 

Abbasi, former ESA chair, referred to the student housing survey ESA conducted in partnership with the City of Edmonton and said the UASU will work with the City of Edmonton to create more surveys. 

The city also expressed to The Gateway that is it continuing to do research and engagement with post-secondary students.

“The end goal is a student housing strategy with the City of Edmonton,” he added.

On behalf of the ESA, Thiessen said that advocacy in this regard will involve “further engagement with the departments of Edmonton, writing more surveys, not only when it comes to housing, but also when it comes to transit.”

UASU addresses exploitative rent schemes

Students struggling to secure affordable student housing in the university area, particularly international students, are vulnerable to sex-for-rent exploitation schemes, according to UASU Vice-president (student life) Logan West. 

In collaboration with the U of A Sexual Assault Centre and the City of Edmonton, West is working on an advocacy initiative to spread awareness of these schemes.

According to West, these schemes have “largely been driven by the increasing housing insecurity, especially in university areas.”

The initiative will include digital and physical informational materials to educate students on how to recognize and report these listings. The initiative is set to release in September.