TEAL1985

Hello all.

My husband and I will be making the move over to Victoria, BC next April. We will be renting an apartment and will be bringing our dog with us.

Firstly, are there any neighbourhoods to avoid? We would like to be close to downtown as my husband doesn't drive yet so he would need to be able to get around on transit.

Secondly, does anyone have experience of renting with a medium sized dog? I know there are some pet friendly buildings but I am concerned they are hard to come by.

I am budgeting $1500 per month (ish) for rent alone, we just need a one bed place to start with, is this a realistic budget?

Would it be advisable to maybe set up temp accommodation for when we arrive, say for 1-2 months through air bnb etc, then look for an apartment while in Victoria, or is it better to try and have somewhere to move into upon arrival?

Would be very interested to hear from anyone who can offer advice.

Thanks and advance!

Aviator

Buildings that accept dogs are few and far between.

scilly

$1500-ish for an apartment close to downtown might not be enough

It might be worth your while to see if you can find an AirBnB that will accept a dog, and take that for 1 or 2 months .............. but remember that Victoria is a place that a) Canadian seniors often move to for the winter from colder parts of the country, and they rent until March/April; and b) Victoria's tourism season begins early (April/May) not only for cruise ships, but people wanting to stay for longer than a week so Airbnbs might be busy.

In addition, Victoria has brought in some regulations controlling Airbnb ......... new regulations are ....................

Rentals of 30 days or less will only be allowed in primary residences. Only one or two bedrooms may be rented out on a short term basis, and self-contained units in basement or garden suites will not qualify.

Operators will also need business licences, which will cost between $200 and $2,500, depending on the unit.

A grandfather clause stipulates property owners who already legally rent out short term units as a business will be allowed to continue.

A primary or principal residence is where the owner lives. If someone is renting out a whole condo, then the owner does not live there and it is illegal. If an owner has been grandfathered because s/he was permitted to rent prior to the new bylaws, s/he seems to only need a business licence, which you could ask to see.

The city bylaws are here.........

Short-Term Rentals Victoria

withabix

Some of my colleagues are currently renting in Victoria in the James Bay area (close to downtown) and are paying these types of prices:


These are from this company:

https://devonproperties.com/properties/residential/

rivingtonpike

Cook St Village and Fairfield are pretty trendy areas. I think your challenge is likely finding somewhere that will take a dog.

Largo

This is very true. I live in James Bay in an apartment building where no animals are allowed even to visit. . Across the street in a building called 'James Bay Square' on Simcoe street dogs are allowed. I knew a person a year or so ago who had a beautiful Newfoundland dog who lived there. So there are possibilities.
There may be additional rental costs for an animal.I don't know.
hope this helps, Good luck.
Largo

TEAL1985

Thanks for the replies so far. Very helpful.

I did think it would be tricky finding a dog friendly building. I had seen the apartments at James bay square so that's potentially one place.

​​​​We could go a little higher in rent but wanted to try and keep things as cheap as possible during our first year.

I'm going to send out some emails to buildings I have shortlisted as being dog friendly.

So apart from our dog being a potential issue, are there any areas we should avoid getting an apartment?

scilly

I should note that many of the apartments that will accept dogs limit them in size ............ most commonly the limit is small pets (and that includes cats).

I've forgotten where I saw somewhere one apartment saying it was "pets under 10lbs"

so you might find that a problem, depending on the size of your dog.