Vanderhoof Rental Units Scarce

Apr 10, 2018 | 3:23 PM

VANDERHOOF – Rental Housing is not only a big city issue. That was the message from the District of Vanderhoof, after a former Vanderhoof couple returned to the community and have been sleeping on a friend’s couch since mid-March.

“We were here in Vanderhoof for 14 years and then left to help our daughter in Edmonton,” explains Jean Nelson. 

She and her husband Stewart returned to Vanderhoof in mid-March.

“Thinking that we would be able to rent someplace. My husband’s not well. He’s got cancer of the brain. [We’re] basically looking for a place I can afford to pay the rent and work.”

“I wouldn’t say there’s a rental problem. I think there’s a rental issue,” says Councillor Brian Frenkel. He says Vanderhoof Council has worked very hard to ensure there is adequate seniors housing. “I think there’s probably a small demographic that is maybe slipping through the cracks.”

And the Nelsons fit that demographic to a tee. They do not have children nor are they seniors. But what adds salt to the wound is the fact there are units managed by BC Housing that are sitting vacant. The MLA for Nechako Lakes is aware of the situation.

“The rules are way too rigid, really when you think about it. And they are provincial rules and, so it is hard to find ways to change them for a local situation,” says John Rustad. “If you look at what we need to do in a place like Vanderhoof or other communities like Burns Lake and Fort St. James, you need to have flexibility because it’s not the same as, say, Vernon, or Vancouver or Victoria.”

He says there should be room for emergency housing to help people like the Nelsons. 

 

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