Pack your bags, freeloader

There's rent control... and then there's getting stuck in a real estate time warp.

Vancouver City Hall just hiked the lease rates on False Creek condos by an average of over 700 per cent (according to a report in 24 Hours). That's a pretty disgusting cash grab. But when I read a little further down the article, my sympathy started to dissipate.

One guy affected by the hike saw his rent jump to $785 a month. I was paying that much for a bachelor apartment two years ago.

Meanwhile, he's been paying just $102 per month for who knows how long. I've had phone bills bigger than that.

The people affected clearly weren't paying anything close to current market value. These rates were set in 1976.

There will be the inevitable backlash from poverty activists concerned about affordable housing. It is a growing problem in this city as developers tear down the rentals to put up expensive condos for a big profit. It is definitely a contributing factor to the scourge of homelessness in this city. At the very least, these people affected by City Hall should have been given three months notice before the new rates kicked in to find alternate housing.

But Canadian citizenship doesn't entitle anybody to live wherever they want. If these people want to live in False Creek for $102 a month, they're welcome to look around for an available cardboard box.

Otherwise, they can do what human beings have been doing throughout history when the place they are living becomes unsustainable: move.

Tags: rent control, real estate, Vancouver City Hall, poverty activist, affordable housing