Home Cost Crunch: UBC's Role? - UBC: Fueling, or solving, the problem?
As real estate inflation tears Vancouver's social fabric, what's a 
university to do?

By Jim Frankish, Published: April 22, 2008 in the Tyee.ca see 
<http://thetyee.ca/Views/2008/04/22/HomeCostCrunch/>http://thetyee.ca/Views/2008/04/22/HomeCostCrunch/ 

Dr. Jim Frankish is chair of the Impact on Communities Coalition, a 
Senior Scholar of the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research, 
and Professor & Director at the Centre for Population Health 
Promotion Research, College for Interdisciplinary Studies, and 
Department of Healthcare & Epidemiology, UBC.

ARTICLE
This is a plea for all Canadians to stop and think about how we 
define "progress" in our cities and towns.

We are bombarded daily by the message that social well-being is best 
measured by economic growth and indicators such as housing starts. It 
is as if our only gauge of progress is more -- more housing at higher prices.

And yet, we continue to create housing that fewer people can afford. 
The trend should be alarming for all Canadians.

As a professor engaged in research and teaching on health inequities, 
I believe the University of British Columbia and its community 
provides a compelling case to study. The UBC Mission & Vision states 
that we will "promote the values of a civil and sustainable society", 
and acknowledge our obligations as citizens to "secure a sustainable 
and equitable future for all." The current situation in Vancouver 
suggests that the UBC community should greatly strengthen these 
commitments, particularly when it comes to engaging the poorest and 
most vulnerable.

Unreal estate
Canada Mortgage & Housing Corporation places the average resale price 
in 2007 for a Vancouver home at $464,500, after 10 straight years of 
price escalation.

Around UBC, a million dollars has become a low price for a home. The 
RealtyLink website on January 25th, 2008 in the UBC area showed 4 
houses for sale at minimum cost of $929,000 and a maximum of $7.68 
million. For 13 available townhouses, the minimum was $458,000 and 
the maximum was $2.38 million. The 57 listed apartments had a minimum 
price of $348,000 and a maximum of $1.87 million. For a typical 
mortgage (7 per cent interest, 5 per cent down, 5 year term, 25 year 
amortization), the minimum household income to purchase the average 
house ($3.9 million) was $1.1 million with monthly payments of 
$27,000. For the least expensive apartment, the minimum household 
income was just under $100,000, with monthly payments of $2,700. This 
is in a neighborhood where much of the land is leased, not owned.

In 2007, public data showed that UBC had roughly 11,748 employees. 
There were 12 employee groups, including union members, faculty and 
administrators, and some 43,000 students.

At the above prices (with two incomes per household), none of the 
almost 12,000 employees had a sufficient household income to purchase 
the average listed house ($3.9 million).

Only two per cent could qualify to buy the average townhouse ($1.2 
million). Sadly, only 11 per cent could buy the average apartment ($724,000).

Finally, UBC had just over 5,000 people in six unionized groups. None 
of them could afford to buy any of the 74 properties above.

Slamming the gates
In sum, only 3.5 per cent of the almost 12,000 employees in Canada's 
third-largest university could afford to purchase property in the 
"neighborhood." Appropriate/affordable housing is even more 
problematic for the 43,000 UBC students who are generally younger and 
less affluent.

Magnify this problem across Canada where full-time post-secondary 
enrolment is expected to grow to 1.3 million in 2013.

Like many other universities, UBC can be very proud of several recent 
initiatives such as Community Service-Learning and the Community 
Health Initiative by University Students. To its credit, UBC has also 
built small amounts of non-market and rental housing. But as some of 
the foremost communities in Canadian society, our universities should 
be champions for change. They should be leading the charge for 
affordable housing for their staff and students, and for our most 
vulnerable citizens.

Given the obvious need and UBC's apparent resources, where is the 
housing for single parents, immigrants/refugees, the working poor, 
the homeless and low-income students in the new UBC community now 
taking form on and around campus?

Big long term costs
Our recent work (led by colleagues from SFU) shows that the cost of 
providing adequate housing and support to the absolute homeless in 
B.C. is $179 million. Provisions for adequate housing in the new UBC 
community (and elsewhere) would reduce costs for health care, 
corrections, and emergency shelters. There would be a net cost 
avoidance of $33 million per year to the province of B.C.

We in the richest neighborhoods across Canada should be doing the 
most, not the least in addressing inequities and improving the 
'health' of our region. Why are our poorest citizens and increasing 
numbers of the middle class being priced out of home ownership in our 
towns and cities? Housing (like health services) is a "social" good 
that is too important to leave to the free market in Canada or 
elsewhere. Human well-being is not a commodity. Canadians must move 
toward a more sustainable model that adopts a "triple-bottom-line" 
mentality by giving equitable weight to our economic well-being, 
environmental preservation, and the promotion of social justice.

As a starting point, an immediate, cooperative and substantive 
investment in affordable and non-market housing for staff and 
students would go a long way toward meeting the vision statements of 
universities such as UBC. Second, we must lead and foster a 
comprehensive public conversation with all Canadians about the true 
determinants of health -- not just health care but housing, 
education, income, early child development, and social relations. At 
present, Canadian media give inordinate coverage to health care 
issues and largely ignore the 'non-medical' determinants of health. 
This coverage is at odds with our research which shows that Canadians 
see homelessness as an urgent social and health issue. They are eager 
and impatient to have their political, academic and community leaders 
address the health, social, legal and economic challenges associated 
with poverty in Canadian cities.

Walk the talk
Over the long term, universities across Canada could readily assume a 
place of greater regional and national leadership in "promoting the 
values of a civil and sustainable society." In part, this can be done 
by educating the next generation of decision leaders on the evidence 
regarding the real determinants of the health of this and future 
generations. Otherwise, we are all at risk of losing key 
opportunities and failing in our stated obligation to "secure a 
sustainable and equitable future for all."

The world is coming to Vancouver, and Canada, in 2010 and beyond. If 
we fail to change, the world will find communities that are 
increasingly unaffordable, inaccessible, and unfriendly.

If so, they surely won't see any real sign of "progress."

Dr. Jim Frankish
Professor & Director, Centre for Population Health Promotion Research
Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP), University of British Columbia
College for Interdisciplinary Studies, and Department of Healthcare & 
Epidemiology (Medicine)
Senior Scholar, Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research
Room 425, Library Processing Centre 2206 East Mall Vancouver BC V6T 1Z3
O: 604-822-9205, F: 822-9210, C: 778-987-9205, [log in to unmask]
Personal web - http://www.jimfrankish.com
Partners in Community Health Research Training Program, www.pchr.net

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