Looking for a place to live in Greater Victoria’s rental housing market can cause mental anguish for those hunting for a home.
Saanich resident Robert Warden knows the feeling all too well after discovering twice in one year that he was living in illegal rental units.
In February, he viewed a coach house suite in the Gordon Head neighbourhood, a type of housing also known as a laneway house.
“(The landlord) showed me it – it was dirty, big and open. I foolishly assumed it would be cleaned before moving in,” said Warden. “It wasn’t.”
On the first night, he noticed loud noises that kept him awake. Warden said the landlord did little to quell the noise.
In addition, the cupboards had to be removed after he discovered black mold. The owner hired someone to do the repairs, but Warden didn’t have access to a full kitchen for at least a month.
After the job was done, Warden turned on the sink to discover it was leaking.
“I asked him about a break on rent. He offered me a $200 discount off the $1,800 monthly rent he was charging to live in the building. I hadn’t slept properly in months,” said Warden.
He agreed to a $400 discount for a month.
That’s when he contacted the Residential Tenancy Branch (RTB) and the District of Saanich, which sent someone to inspect the suite, but only had bad news.
“I called the city to check because I started to think, ‘What’s happening here? How is this legal?’ … They told me it’s zoned as a workshop. No one is allowed to live there,” said Warden. “It’s an illegal place.”
The district inspector was shocked that a kitchen was in such small living quarters, said Warden.
Warden also got the bad news from the inspector that he would have to move out, leaving him to scramble to find suitable housing on short notice.
“I turned 60 this year and I’m going through some serious health issues. … I’ve tried to find a place, but it’s almost impossible to find something in that short of a period, within days, weeks or even months,” said Warden.
According to the District of Saanich, illegal suite investigations are initiated by public complaints, but may also be undertaken in response to complaints or observations from district staff, police, other agencies or initiated proactively by bylaw enforcement officers.
“Saanich takes these investigations seriously, and our primary concern with illegal suites is ensuring occupants’ safety,” said Saanich communications manager Kelsie McLeod.
Before signing a rental agreement, renters can check if the suite is legal by calling Saanich inspections, said McLeod, adding that some warning signs of an illegal suite could be a lack of egress, parking and lack of smoke or carbon monoxide detectors.
Warden had a trip planned to Scotland for the fall, but decided to go in July after being out of housing options.
Upon returning home, he was back on the search, hunting through Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace for housing options. The search was looking bleak until he found a laneway-style cottage on the edge of Saanich. It was one of three units on the property.
But that’s when things turned bad again.
It seemed strange to have that many units, so Warden did some digging to discover this suite was also not properly zoned.
“I see someone running a full-on business,” said Warden. “And this is on a residential street?”
Warden had already moved in, but is now on the hunt for a new place to live.
READ MORE: Victoria housing crisis creates social divide for post-secondary students