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“It’s brutal,” said Tom Johnson, vice-president of asset management for Cressey Development Group, a major owner of apartment buildings in Vancouver. This year, Cressey has had insurance premiums increase by an average of 18 per cent for concrete apartment buildings and an average of 36 per cent for the wood-frame ones that make up most of their rental portfolio in Vancouver.

“You’re squeezed by a lesser allowable rent increase, and at the time that the insurance increase is coming through, you’re also getting hammered by property taxes and you’re also getting hammered by all these other non-controllable expenses,” Johnston said.

So far this year, rental properties across B.C. have experienced insurance premiums increasing by 30 per cent, said David Hutniak, CEO of LandlordBC, an organization representing the rental housing industry.

“That’s a huge hit,” said Hutniak, who couldn’t remember another year with average increases approaching that level. He said it is double or triple the typical increase of recent years.

“Although we were warned by the insurance industry that insurance costs would be increasing, we were surprised by the scale of increases broadly across our sector,” Hutniak said. “In terms of stratas, where we find a significant number of critically important rental homes, we were truly shocked to see the scale of increases.”

Hutniak said he understands that, during a housing crisis, landlords are not the group that always gets the most sympathy from the public. But, he said, “we’re very concerned about the impact this will have on our sector and, ultimately, renters.”