One issue with increasing density in cities

In Vancouver and the surrounding Metro area there is an expected population increase of nearly one million people expected over the next 25 years.

To prepare for this increase, city planners are working on increasing density through the construction of multi-use apartment units and townhouse complexes.  This is great for getting a lot of people onto a small area but one thing that doesn't get much press is that these are strata units.

Having lived in a strata complex and served on council, I think there needs to be more training and information made available to individuals looking to buy such housing.

One of the issues, is the ever increasing strata fees that owners will be expected to pay.  If you're initial fees start at $400/month, after ten years at a modest annual increase of 2.5% your fees will be $500/month.  And at the 10 year mark for many of the new units going up, there will be the initial wave of maintenance that will need to be considered from roofs and painting, to drainage issues and fixing the swimming pool that so many places seem to come with.

Unless the complex has a well funded maintenance fund, these costs could also result in assessments that many people are unprepared for.

The Metro Vancouver region is growing and this requires the construction of higher density housing.  With each development, I believe the developer should be mandated to provide buyers a full educational package on the expected responsibilities of strata owners.  I also believe that everybody should serve on council at least once in their lives because so much happens during meetings that doesn't get put into the minutes.  An inside scoop to the activities of council doesn't take much time, a handful of meetings every year and it allows one to learn who is in the complex because in this increasingly digital age, it seems face to face contact is a diminishing asset.