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Lowering the annual rental-price increase cap, as proposed by the housing minister, would worsen Vancouver’s affordable-housing woes.

If landlords can’t cover their costs and make a profit, some will cut back on rental units by either selling, turning to short-term rentals or leaving them vacant like the owners of 25,500 unoccupied Vancouver homes already do. Some new residential development would be shelved or turned into commercial property if investors’ profits are further threatened by the lowered cap.

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Rising rents are a symptom of a larger problem: the lack of housing supply.

A better approach for B.C. politicians would be to copy Boston, which had a similar affordable-housing problem. Mayor Mary Walsh pledged — and is on track to build — 53,000 new housing units by 2030. This new supply reduced average rents in older city housing by four per cent last year.

In comparison, Vancouver only approved 1,800 new units last year, and only around 1,000 in the recent years before that.