I live in British Columbia, Canada, for about 5 years now. About 4 years ago I bought a fairly new manufactured home in Nanaimo. There are many communities, or Manufactured Home Parks (MHP) in the City of Nanaimo. Approximately 1,700 units of this type exist in the city. While not a large percentage of Nanaimo's housing stock, it is an affordable alternative for owning a home. Typically, a potential resident buys a unit on a parcel of land, and leases land from the owner of the land. Depending on the condition of the home a small unit (Approx 700 to 900 sq. ft.) can sell from 150,000 to 300,000 CAD. Condos in the area go for 300K and up, and Townhouses 450K and up. Houses are difficult to afford, especially for the first time buyer.
So what's wrong? Instead of promoting more of this type of housing, MHP owners are making things more difficult for this to be affordable. What would you think if a service went from 500 CAD per month to 800? Floored right.? This is what is happening when a new lease is signed between the land owner and a new home owner. The affordability of a Manufactured Home is directly affected by an increase in the fee to lease the land where the home is located.
Sometimes people just do not know any better, but there are methods to control these cost increases. The Rental Tenancy Branch (RTB) can help people in BC. Most provinces in Canada have organizations of their own.
