Sudbury housing crunch: family makes too much for subsidized housing

Despite an increase in the number of vacant apartments in the city, a Sudbury couple say finding safe and affordable housing in the city is still difficult.

Tyler Larose and his partner Melissa Cote have lowerincome jobs, but make too much money to qualify for low-income housing.

They say they've moved four times in the last three years because their apartments had mold, smoke, or noise issues.

The couple said they've looked at derelict buildings where landlords were asking upwards of $1,000 a month.

"We don't live in Toronto. We live in northern Ontario, where I feel that these prices are just gouging because they can," Cotesaid.

According to the City of Greater Sudbury, slightly more than1,100 people are waiting for low-income housing. In some cases that wait can be more than a year.

Larose said there's no shortage of non-subsidized rentals but finding good housing at a price they can afford is a struggle.

"We are paying off current debts. But we still need to live. And we want to be able to provide quality of living for our children."

Good ones 'go quick'

A landlord in Sudbury for the past eight years said there are a lot of places in Sudbury "that need work and a lot of them are not up to par."

"I know there [are] a lot of derelict rentals in Sudbury and the good ones tend to go quick," Luke Smith said.

"I hear the same song from everybody that there's not enough places."

Sudbury is one of the only cities in Ontario that's had an increase in vacant apartments according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. That's because fewer people have moved to the city in recent years.

But that reality is not working in Cote'sfavour.

"I have two children who are constantly being shifted and moved around into different areas of the city," she said.

"It's stressful not knowing if you're going to spend Christmas in this house."

They thought their current apartment was a good deal until they were faced with a $400 monthly heating bill.

"Just buying a home right now doesn't seem very feasible at this point in our life," Larose said.