A family of seven that has lived in the Okanagan for 15 years might have to move to Alberta because they can’t find an affordable home to rent in the Kelowna area.
T. Cassidy says she, her husband, two adult children in their 20s and their school-aged children aged 17, 9 and 7 lived for years in a rental in Lake Country, until that home was sold. Now the house they are renting in Kelowna has also sold. They’ve been given until May 1 to find a new place.
They are struggling to find anything close to their current rent of $3,200.
“We’re just so stressed out. I don’t even know what to do right now. We need at least five bedrooms and the rates right now are just mind-boggling. It just floors me how much rent is right now for people with larger families,” she says.
Even with four incomes, making ends meet has not been easy. She works as a bookkeeper, her husband is a tire technician, and her oldest son and daughter have full-time jobs.
“It’s $4,000 and up for the size we need and we just can’t afford it with bills on top of it and trying to pay for food and car payments and fuel and all that.”
She says they are now considering a move to Alberta after coming across ads for rental properties in that province while browsing Facebook Marketplace. In Lethbridge, she found five and six-bedroom homes renting for $1800-$2,200 a month.
“Even (in) Edmonton, five-bedroom houses are going for $2,500 to $3,000, which is still doable.”
She says the family is seriously considering its options.
“The only thing that’s holding us back is that we have all our jobs here, the three youngest go to school here and they have friends. It’s like being between a rock and a hard place,” adds Cassidy.
She worries that the situation won’t get any better because single-family home construction isn’t keeping up with demand. While a lot of new condo-style developments are being built, those 1, 2 and 3-bedroom units aren’t big enough for her family.
Cassidy understands why owners of larger homes in Kelowna have to charge so much because their costs are also rising. She says this is the worst it’s been in their 15 years in the Okanagan and it seems like there’s nowhere to go except to leave BC.
“On top of everything else that’s going on right now, to have to worry about where you’re going to live or where the next meal is coming from is just getting to be a little much.”
