P.E.I. senior can’t find housing after name picked at random for eviction – CBC.ca

Seniors on P.E.I. are feeling the housing crunch more than most, with rising rental costs exceeding fixed incomes for those on pensions or social assistance.

Just ask Valerie Arsenault.

The Charlottetown woman’s landlord took the names of several renters at the Kensington Road apartment building where she lives, put them into a hat and drew one out.

The “winner” would have to give up his or her unit so that his son could move into it.

“I was given an eviction notice back on October 4th because my landlord has a family member moving home from B.C.,” Arsenault told CBC News, adding that it’s tough to be losing a home in which she has spent the last six years.

She appealed the notice to the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission and won — initially. However, her landlord proved to the commission’s satisfaction in December that he did need the unit for personal use, with his son planning to move into it. That’s one of the permitted grounds for the type of eviction Arsenault faces.

Arsenault is on social assistance and can afford only about $750 in rent, including heat and lights. She said she doesn’t think she will be able to find a new place that fits her budget.

“Not that is pet-friendly within Charlottetown area, because I don’t have a car. So where I am right now, I’m really close to the bus stop, so this is absolutely perfect for me,” she said.

“Rents are just exorbitant. One-bedroom apartments are going for like $800. People are renting rooms in their house for more than what I’m allowed.”

Son needs a home too, says landlord

Arsenault was told she had to be out by Jan. 31, but after some recent health issues, she was given a few extra weeks to vacate.

Landlord Gary Jenkins would not do a recorded interview, but told CBC News he is renting units for as little as possible and his son also needs a place to live in a tight housing market. He said he feels sorry for Arsenault and understands she is on a fixed income. He intends to give her a good reference to show when seeking new housing.

What needs to happens, Jenkins said, is for the government to add more money to social-service programs, given how much rents have increased.

The situation isn’t a unique one. Connor Kelly with the P.E.I. Fight for Affordable Housing says he has been getting calls about other people being evicted from a unit for the “personal use” reason.

He doesn’t think giving a unit to a relative should fall under that category when it comes to evicting others, though.

“If it is a personal-use eviction, it should only be the landlord allowed to apply for that — like, the relative shouldn’t be able to take over their property because it is the landlord that owns the property,” he said.

Changes coming to rentals law

The province of Prince Edward Island recently finished a round of consultations on a new draft of the Residential Tenancy Act. The current piece of legislation is 30 years old.

In the newest draft, a tenant would be granted twice the amount of notice to vacate a unit when it’s sought for personal use, with the time going from two months to four.

Kelly said that isn’t “really a protection” for tenants, though; it merely gives people more time to try to find another place to live.

Arsenault said she has applied for help under P.E.I.’s Seniors Housing Program, which offers either rental subsidies or spaces in government-funded buildings, but she has not yet heard back.

According to the province’s website, there are more than 350 Islanders on a registry waiting for help with social housing, with 88 of those waiting for Seniors Housing Program aid specifically.

“After an application is submitted for seniors housing, it takes approximately one week to be reviewed and then a housing officer will follow up on the application to conduct a formal assessment,” officials with the Department of Social Development and Housing told CBC News in an email.

If an assessment shows the applicant meets eligibility conditions, after such things as income and current living conditions are considered, the person is placed on the list as being in need of help, the email said.

We need to have more low-income housing, senior-friendly housing, because they are the ones falling between the cracks in the system.— Valerie Arsenault

The province said people on the registry can call housing services for an update on their file.

Arsenault is still waiting.

She isn’t sure what her next step will be. She said she is not comfortable with the idea of having a roommate, considering the COVID-19 pandemic.

For now, she and many other Islanders are just a cheque away from living on the streets, she said.

“What I think really needs to happen is we need to have more low-income housing, senior-friendly housing, because they are the ones falling between the cracks in the system.”