Homless - maybe

[Donald G]

Perhaps people who are having difficulty paying their rent in Kelowna should look at moving elsewhere where housing is more plentiful and the rents are notably cheaper. Or rent a place more consistent with their income. Or find someone in a similar situation with whom to share rent.

IMO the Government has an obligation to provide safe accommodation to those who, through no fault of their own, do not have the ability to earn adequate money to pay minimal rent for minimal accommodation. That does not include allowing money for cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, pets or such other "frills".

[LiamHaddock]

Shelter and food on table should be a basic human right in my opinion. I know many won't support this but if people weren't homeless or starving they would be more likely to move forward and be productive members of society. It doesn't mean everyone would become lazy because people would still want the bigger house or fancy restaurants/toys. If u want a enjoyable life you have to work hard but regardless of situation you have a roof over your head and food in your belly.

[jimmy4321]

I realize there will always be people truly homeless do to their addictions or mental health but society doesn't owe anyone who sticks around cause they enjoy being close to their relations, or were born here, or enjoy the summers here or mild winters here.
If you make the necessary sacrifices to live in one of the most expensive cities in Canada and thats NOT enough to survive. Common sense says move, move outta province or whatever. There's are excellent communities across Canada to live and work., They'd welcome you

[mexi cali]

Davis123 locked this down. Great post.

This one is gonna get me in trouble with more than a few but I'm gonna say it anyway.

My guess is that neither the father nor the son are chemical engineers who have jobs that keep them in the area.

So, if that is accurate, they should be able to move to a more affordable area where there is work that is likely suited to them and will afford them a better lifestyle.

I know that may sound harsh and judgemental but believe me, if you knew me you would know that it was neither. It was meant as practical advice based on a probable truthful presumption.

Thanks tot he poster who suggested they look at the cost of property, factor in the likely mortgage rate in order to come up with a probable mortgage payment and add in the property taxes and every other bloody expense that a house brings to the table and you will see that rents mostly are in line with those costs.

Or are we suggesting that landlords should rent for less than their monthly costs as a gesture of good will?

[davis123]

My guess is that neither the father nor the son are chemical engineers who have jobs that keep them in the area.

So, if that is accurate, they should be able to move to a more affordable area where there is work that is likely suited to them and will afford them a better lifestyle.

I know that may sound harsh and judgemental but believe me, if you knew me you would know that it was neither. It was meant as practical advice based on a probable truthful presumption.

I agree, if the skills someone has could be applied somewhere else, then by all means get out of Kelowna if you can. The Okanagan, unfortunately, has quickly become an area where two good incomes or a healthy trust fund is required to maintain a decent lifestyle. Even with two good incomes it is still pretty tough to pay the rent/bills and save any amount of money for a future downpayment.

It does make you wonder what will happen a few years down the road though if everyone takes off because they can't afford or don't want to pay over 2000$ a month in rent. When renters mention "affordable housing", I think most people assume the person is a pauper and living on welfare rates, but unless someone has had the misfortune of trying to rent a place or buy a place in the past couple of years they might not be aware how prices/rental rates have skyrocketed in the area in such a short period of time. In 2003, I had a full house in Kelowna for 750$ a month, in 2014 the house I was renting was 1730$ a month. And when we were looking last June the average rent for what we require was 2500$, all of these houses were about the same square footage/same features. That's a 1700$ monthly increase for virtually the same size/features in a 12 year span.

I would LOVE to be closer to Kelowna, my family is there, friends, and the area around Kelowna is home to me, I miss it incredibly! Fortunately, I am able to work from home in my position so I didn't have to secure a job before leaving Kelowna, but finding a job in small town BC is not an easy task either. My spouse is making quite a bit less in the Kootenays than he was in Kelowna. And even rent prices are starting to pick up in the smaller towns now too, they see the big money Kelowna or Vanvouver landlords are bringing in and now they are raising their rental rates because more and more people are moving away from the higher priced cities.

It's gets quite depressing when everything is going up, quite literally, everything...groceries, utilities, gas, rentals/homes, etc. but wages are staying the same, makes it really hard to get ahead.

[Even Steven]

I think people overestimate how much affordable housing can be really provided by the govt. It might help may be 5% of the population, but number of people who are struggling with rent will always always be higher. We have low income people, young families, seniors on fixed income, students, min. wage employees, etc. To dream of the world where everybody is provided with affordable housing is just unrealistic.

The fella who started the topic lives with his adult son. You can find a 2-BR appartment for around $1,200 these days. Six hundred bucks from each isn't that bad.

[Hassel99]

Kelowna really needs to do something about affordable housing(rent). And pet friendly as well. And I believe landlords need to start being a little more reasonable what they ask for rent.
It's really sad that money comes before people. And why people(landlords) would rather put a person(s) in a situation where they could end up homeless rather than take late rent. I think now it's a little more common for people to be late with rent. Cost if EVERYTHING goes up but the wages. Does it make the tenant a bad person for being late with the rent????? I think not. Are people not able to put themselves in someone else's shoes????
I've lived in Kelowna for 40+ years, my son 25. Kelowna needs to get with it. WE NEED AFFORDABLE RENTALS!!!!!
I'm hoping that in 2 weeks we find a place, otherwise my son & I WILL be homeless. We can't find a place. We will lose everything. Never thought that would ever be a concern. But it's here and it's freakin scary.
More awareness needs to be brought to this issue. As well as enlightening landlords out there that when you decide to not to work it out and money is mire important, you're pretty much kicking them to the curb. I wouldn't want to be responsible for making someone homeless. Unless my tenant murdered someone, I wouldn't be let money come before humans. But a lot of people would and do.

You never thought you would be evicted for not paying your rent on time?
Welcome to reality, sorry it took you 40+ years to figure out that people expect you to live up to your obligations...

Would it be cool if your boss paid you 5 or 10 days late?

[Silverstarqueen]

Does it make the tenant a bad person for being late with the rent?????

It does make him a bad tenant.

Who cares what kind of person he is.

No it doesn't make him a bad person at all. It makes him a person without a place to live because a rental agreement requires payment of rent if you want to live somewhere.
You can't go to a gas station and expect them to give you gas for nothing, you can't get groceries from the store ,without paying for them or on a promise to pay next time around (unless you have a credit card).

[Silverstarqueen]

I agree, if the skills someone has could be applied somewhere else, then by all means get out of Kelowna if you can. The Okanagan, unfortunately, has quickly become an area where two good incomes or a healthy trust fund is required to maintain a decent lifestyle. Even with two good incomes it is still pretty tough to pay the rent/bills and save any amount of money for a future downpayment.

It does make you wonder what will happen a few years down the road though if everyone takes off because they can't afford or don't want to pay over 2000$ a month in rent. When renters mention "affordable housing", I think most people assume the person is a pauper and living on welfare rates, but unless someone has had the misfortune of trying to rent a place or buy a place in the past couple of years they might not be aware how prices/rental rates have skyrocketed in the area in such a short period of time. In 2003, I had a full house in Kelowna for 750$ a month, in 2014 the house I was renting was 1730$ a month. And when we were looking last June the average rent for what we require was 2500$, all of these houses were about the same square footage/same features. That's a 1700$ monthly increase for virtually the same size/features in a 12 year span.

I would LOVE to be closer to Kelowna, my family is there, friends, and the area around Kelowna is home to me, I miss it incredibly! Fortunately, I am able to work from home in my position so I didn't have to secure a job before leaving Kelowna, but finding a job in small town BC is not an easy task either. My spouse is making quite a bit less in the Kootenays than he was in Kelowna. And even rent prices are starting to pick up in the smaller towns now too, they see the big money Kelowna or Vanvouver landlords are bringing in and now they are raising their rental rates because more and more people are moving away from the higher priced cities.

It's gets quite depressing when everything is going up, quite literally, everything...groceries, utilities, gas, rentals/homes, etc. but wages are staying the same, makes it really hard to get ahead.

If you look at the price of homes and how it has increased from 2003 to present, then you would see how much the cost of that house increased for the person who bought it, is paying a mortgage on it, and hopes to recoup their expenses for price, interest, repairs, taxes. Otherwise they bought a house at huge cost, to house people for cheap or free. Why would anyone do that?
As cost of living/housing outstrips peoples' wages, the net effect is, people will either move elsewhere for a better deal. Or people will pack more wage earners into given living space. so every available space has to be filled with a wage earner. It has been for some time, that it required three (average) wage earners to pay for an (average) space in Vancouver, I would guess that has edged up to four or so now. This is where Kelowna is headed, if it isn't already there.

[Queen K]

There are a lot cheaper places to live in BC. Small town living offers some solutions, however having said that, sometimes you can't be away from certain social or medical services.

[Piecemaker]

Many of the homeless or nearly homeless are employed at minimum or slightly higher.
There is a very low vacancy rate in Kelowna and area for rental units.
Just because there is an apartment or suite available for around $1000, doesn't mean you will get it as there will be a number of applicants. Then, on top of rent there are utilities to consider.
Some don't have vehicles, so need to be on a bus route and ideally close to their place of employment.

Moving to a small town may not be so wise. Many of them have less rental units than Kelowna and less work opportunities.
Having said that, the OP cannot expect to retain his rented home if s/he does not pay the rent.

[Lady tehMa]

The rental market is really tight right now. I have a friend who rents her basement suite and she is very thorough when she does interviews - she usually keeps her tenants for years at a time. The last one got married and moved out.

They depend on that income to pay bills of their own, and the bank or Fortis are not at all sanguine with late payments, so why should she be?

I know another friend whose last tenant was not only chronically late paying, when she was (finally) evicted, she trashed the place and tried to poison their pets with antifreeze. This is why landlords are picky - you never know what sort of tenant you will get. And if it is a basement suite, chances are they are sharing the space with you; so they want to be extra safe.

Many landlords are just trying to keep their heads above water too, just because you (OP) are in a tough place is no reason to vilify them. And the rental market is shrinking too, partly because of poor tenants who do nothing but cost the landlords money. It's sad, but there it is. A few bad apples are ruining it for the rest of you.

[dirtybiker]

I'd never rent out my space or property or any other of my
belongings ever again! Had too many repair bills caused by people not willing to buck-up
for the damages they have done.
I paid for it and take care of it.
The vast majority of renters do not give a hoop in hell about what they are renting
and abuse it.

Look around at the rental properties in your area, how rental cars are driven,
rental boats abused, rental skis trashed.

Nope, no way, no thanks!!!!!

Heartless, not at all, just the reality of it.

[dorito]

Kelowna really needs to do something about affordable housing(rent). And pet friendly as well. And I believe landlords need to start being a little more reasonable what they ask for rent.
It's really sad that money comes before people. And why people(landlords) would rather put a person(s) in a situation where they could end up homeless rather than take late rent. I think now it's a little more common for people to be late with rent. Cost if EVERYTHING goes up but the wages. Does it make the tenant a bad person for being late with the rent????? I think not. Are people not able to put themselves in someone else's shoes????
I've lived in Kelowna for 40+ years, my son 25. Kelowna needs to get with it. WE NEED AFFORDABLE RENTALS!!!!!
I'm hoping that in 2 weeks we find a place, otherwise my son & I WILL be homeless. We can't find a place. We will lose everything. Never thought that would ever be a concern. But it's here and it's freakin scary.
More awareness needs to be brought to this issue. As well as enlightening landlords out there that when you decide to not to work it out and money is mire important, you're pretty much kicking them to the curb. I wouldn't want to be responsible for making someone homeless. Unless my tenant murdered someone, I wouldn't be let money come before humans. But a lot of people would and do.

Yes, Kelowna has a very tight rental market. Yes, it's expensive to rent. Yes, prices keep going up.

I'm sorry for your situation....however, why should landlords subsidize you? Do you think the bank will decide to cut them a break on how much mortgage they pay because they want to be a nice bank? Do they get to pay their mortgage and other bills on the property late because "it's more common now?" Do the banks care if the person might go into foreclosure because they are chronically late/behind on payments because the tenant needs a break? NO

Being a landlord is a huge financial and social responsibility. Hundreds of thousands invented in a property that also has many bills associated with it. Making sure they have a responsible tenant that will look after the place etc. It's not about being a nice guy.

My mom was a landlord and was screwed over 3 times in a row by tenants. It got so bad, (not getting a damage deposit because she was trying to give them a break, then not getting any rent for months, had to take them to the residential tenancy board). She let her place stay vacant and lose out on collecting rent money as it was too much of a hassle and waste of money to clean/repair stuff that the tenants broke/stole (blinds, space heater) etc.

[Rosemary1]

While I sympathize with anyone caught in the shortage of affordable rentals, it is not a home owners responsibility to fix the problem and yes landlords do have their pick of potential renters as is their right.

Unfortunately few private developers are getting in the game of building and managing rental housing because it can be one big headache (look at the issues with the former Olympic Athlete's Village mix of low rental housing and condos) . That aside, responsibility falls largely on BC Housing to contract such building working in partnership with municipalities. and various societies to ensure the building of more low rental housing and their management. It does seem though that supply is not keeping up with the growing need for such housing.