UBC student housing costs set to increase as much as 8 per cent

The pandemic student housing rent freeze at the University of British Columbia is over, as officials have announced the price to live on campus will be increasing in May.

The price hike will vary from different housing facilities within a range of 3.5 to 8 per cent rise, according to the university.

That could add up to several hundred dollars added to student housing bills.

“That is a significant increase for the students. We are very empathetic to the affordability of education for students and the challenges students face with the cost of education, shelter and food,” said Andrew Parr, UBC Association’s vice president of student housing. “We want to keep a wide gap in our pricing. We want to keep our older inventory as low as possible.”

This is something students say will only make a student housing affordability issue even worse.

“I think it’s a little ridiculous, especially considering Vancouver has a housing crisis right now,” said Munira Abdulwahid, a UBC student. “I think that UBC has enough funding to allocate money to (student) housing, so students don’t have to pay more to live on campus.”

The UBC student said she has heard chatter from other students. Many will be looking elsewhere for accommodation in the coming months.

UBC is planning on building an additional 3,300 units in 2023 and the current rent students will be paying to help fund them.

As for Munira Abdulwahid, she’s preparing to battle the Vancouver housing market before she comes back for her second year.