Skip to content

[UPDATE] New West tenants scramble to find housing in preparation for renovictions

Three years after retiring, Liduin VanderSpek is being forced back into the workforce so she can ensure she has a roof over her head. VanderSpek is among the tenants of the Lori Ann Apartment at 404 Seventh St.
Renoviction
About 40 people, including members of B.C. ACORN and residents of Lori Ann Apartment on Seventh Street, attended a May 15 rally in front of the building. Tenants were evicted so the owner could undertake repairs to the building.

Three years after retiring, Liduin VanderSpek is being forced back into the workforce so she can ensure she has a roof over her head.

VanderSpek is among the tenants of the Lori Ann Apartment at 404 Seventh St. expecting to soon receive eviction notices so the owner can do renovations. Having lived in the building since 2005, VanderSpek pays $775 for her one-bedroom suite.

“I have really enjoyed living here for the last 13 years. We were given the head’s up that we are going to get notice to be evicted so that they can jack up our rents by about $500 a month,” she said. “Like everybody else, I’ve been looking for an apartment. I finally found one. Yay. However, I did the numbers – it is going to take 92.3 per cent of my entire income to pay for rent.”

VanderSpek, 67, said she’ll have to get a job so she can pay her new $1,200 rent and other living expenses. 

“Stop this s--t,” she told the Record, when asked if she has a message for the provincial government. “Excuse me, but this is just greed.”

About 40 B.C. Acorn members and tenants of the building rallied in front of the building on Monday afternoon to voice concerns about the situation and to call on the province for tougher legislation to prevent renovictions. ACORN stated that the tenants are faced with a “precarious” rental market, as rents are rising and the vacancy rate for some types of units is less than one per cent.

Heather McClelland, who lives in a two-bedroom unit with her elderly mother and teenage daughter, has been searching unsuccessfully for a new home.

“It’s difficult because I don’t use the internet,” she said. “For someone like me who is in a position where I have to be, unfortunately, on assistance, I have to scratch my way down to their office, get them to fill out the form. It’s a load of trouble to get a place. I have a cat, so that’s even harder. They want more for a pet deposit. It’s too much; it’s way too much.”

McClelland, who has lived in the building for 14 years, currently pays $1,030 in rent, but has told that will rise to $1,800 after the renovations. She’s looked at apartments that ranging from $1,400 to $1,800 a month, but can’t afford those rents.

“It’s crazy. It’s nuts. I just don’t see how they can do this,” she said, her eyes welling up with tears. “Everybody seems to be finding a place – I just can’t seem to get that luck.”

B.C. ACORN representatives encouraged attendees to call their provincial representatives to demand the province to take stronger measures to protect renters. In April, the province enacted new legislation under the Residential Tenancy Act that requires property owners to give tenants four months’ notice instead of two when asking them to move out because of a renovation or demolition.

The Record could not reach the VS Rental property manager for comment before deadline.

Tamara Stockli said VS Rental is expected to issue eviction notices at the beginning of June and tenants will have to move out within four months. While tenants will be given the option of moving back in once the renovations are completed, Stockli said the rents will be double.

John Stark, the city’s acting manager of planning, told the Record the city has received a building permit application for a water re-pipe and for kitchens and bathroom alterations at the building.

Coun. Jaimie McEvoy said the city has no way to stop renovictions because it isn’t allowed to reject building permits or negotiate with landlords about proposed repairs. McEvoy and Coun. Patrick Johnstone attended the rally.

“We want legislation that allows cities to look at the particular circumstances. We want people to have the first right to move back in at the rent they were paying before,” McEvoy said. “We want more affordable housing being built. We need the federal government to step on board, step up to the plate and provide the funds to get affordable housing built right across Canada.”

McEvoy said the city put forward a motion at the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention calling on the province to take action to address the issue of affordability and renovictions.

After 14 years at Lori Ann Apartment, McClelland is saddened by the thought of having to move.

 “This building is like my family,” she said.