When Michael Stewart moved his family to Saanich a year-and-a-half ago after being pushed out of the hot Vancouver housing market, he thought he could finally set up roots in the community.
Now, the family is being plagued with the same problem here. They are being pushed out of their rental unit after their landlords recently decided to put the house up for sale.
Stewart first moved to Victoria with his wife and two young children a year-and-a-half ago in search of more affordable housing.
After roughly a month of searching for a place to live, and answering dozens of ads and never hearing back, he stumbled across a three-bedroom rental unit in Gordon Head.
It was an attractive property for the young family since it was located along a quiet street, offered enough space for his children to have their own rooms, a backyard to play in and was close to his partner’s work and city parks.
So they moved in with the intent of staying there long-term and building a life. The family’s home is now lined with their children’s artwork and streaks of marker. Stewart even installed a vegetable garden, a raspberry trellis and several fruit bushes in the backyard.
However, two weeks ago, the family received a letter notifying him the landlord put the house up for sale.
Stewart said he was disappointed, frustrated and demoralized.
“There doesn’t seem to be an end to this cycle. We were pushed out of one city and into another one and maybe naively thought it was going to stop here, but it isn’t going to stop,” he said, adding they’re worried it will continue to happen in the next place they live as well.
“We really wanted to put down roots and start interacting with the community, but it’s almost impossible when you don’t know where you’re going to live in two years.”
Once new owners take over the property, they have a 60-day notice period to evict Stewart if they choose, leaving the family in limbo. Stewart isn’t holding out hope they’ll be able to stay in their current place.
editor@saanichnews.com