A quarter of the population of Vernon has to spend at least 50 per cent of their gross income on their rent. A new rental housing index released today says that puts those residents in a crisis situation. The average renter in Vernon earns about 10-thousand dollars less than the average BC renter...and affordability is an issue. Jill Atkey of the BC Non-Profit Housing Association says a full quarter of all renter households make less than 18-thousand dollars a year.
"You can maybe make cuts in your grocery bills, you can buy second hand clothes or make cuts in other places, but you can't make cuts in your rent, so those investments in rental housing and increasing the supply of rental housing are really important," says Atkey. Atkey says average income locally is far below where it needs to be. "Renter households in Vernon are making on average about ten thousand less annually than the average BC renter, so that's the difference between $50,000, and in Vernon, $40,000 annually." Kelowna has the highest rents in the Okanagan while Vernon and Penticton are in the middle of the pack in BC, but only about $100 a month below the provincial average. The new index finds over 40 per cent of all renter households in Canada spend over 30% of their gross income on rent. More distressing, one in five spends over 50 per cent. BC leads the country in both those areas.
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http://rentalhousingindex.ca/#
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