Finding affordable housing in the Westwood apartments near campus is becoming impossible for many students, who say their rent is too expensive, forcing them to live outside of the Westwood area.
Andrew Wei, a third-year undeclared student living in the Midvale Luxury Apartments with three other roommates, said he is one of many students looking to rent elsewhere in the coming year because of the expense.
Wei said he lives a convenient 20-minute walking distance from campus, but it comes at the high price of $750 per roommate plus utilities.
“The property value of the entire Westwood area is going up the roof,” said Jay Handal, president of Greater West Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce. “Westwood is a very desirable area to live and own a business.”
In addition to its proximity to UCLA, Westwood is a high-demand area mostly because of its close proximity to many Westside attractions and businesses, Handal said.
For these reasons, renting in Westwood, relative to many other areas in Los Angeles, is more expensive.
“Westwood is a desirable area because it is close to UCLA, Brentwood and to the ocean,” said Lila Rioth, a member of the Westwood Homeowners Association.
Rent is significantly higher in Westwood than it was five years ago, with what Handal speculates could be a 40 percent price difference from years ago as compared to today.
“My place was a steal,” said Lara Manjikian, a third-year psychology student who lives approximately 2 miles from campus. She said that compared to the prices of apartments located closer to UCLA, her apartment was a good deal.
“I pay $925 (for a single), and I actually have a parking space, a usable kitchen and a balcony,” she said.
“Rent is going up because it can, and it is pushing the middle class out of the Westside market,” Handal said.
A standard studio or one-bedroom apartment rents from about $800 to $900, which is completely unaffordable for most students, Handal said.
For example, there is an apartment complex on Veteran and Gayley avenues leasing rooms ranging from studio to two-bedroom apartments. The studio apartments are going for $1,250 with two bedrooms going for up to $2,400, according to the managing agency for Westwood Apartments.
The growing number of vacancy signs in the Westwood area, especially closer to campus on streets such as Veteran and Gayley avenues, are indicators of rent on the rise, said Stephen Cauley, associate director of the Richard S. Ziman Center for Real Estate, a joint center of the UCLA Anderson School of Management and the UCLA School of Law.
“Supply is exceeding demand because there are more apartments than people want to rent,” Cauley said.
Cauley added that one of the factors contributing to high rent near campus is that students are not the most desirable tenants. Owners do not have an incentive to keep prices relatively low, especially in light of the fact that there is high demand for space near campus.
Students are “harder on a building” because they generally throw parties and do other things that effect the quality of buildings that are not as common in the non-student populations.
“When a bunch of students live in a building, it is very likely that no one else will move in,” Cauley said.
Other contributing factors have been the conversion of apartments to condominiums. Cauley said many of the condos being built south of Wilshire and west of Westwood are replacing apartment buildings and limiting the scope of rent possibilities for students. The upside, Cauley said, is if the condos do not sell, they will be put up for rent.
A growing number of UCLA students are being forced to seek a home away from school. Even though there are many apartments available, they are simply not affordable, Handal said.