A simple visit to the groups dedicated to renting apartments provides a quick picture of the situation; demand greatly exceeds supply. There are many announcements about housing requests. Those offering rentals are rare, even non-existent. Out of nearly thirty advertisements, none came from an owner wishing to post an available accommodation.
Chantal Cholette’s family is all that is more typical. The couple, established professionals in their respective fields. They are the parents of three children and the owners of a dog over the age of 10. Mrs. Cholette confides that the search for a new home has proven to be complex and arduous. “The owners are looking for tenants without children. There was a semi-detached house for rent in Coteau-du-Lac. The house had 4 bedrooms. When we mentioned that we were 2 adults and 3 children, the owner never followed up. We have seen 3 bedroom homes for rent to retirees. I saw an apartment on 2 floors. It was old, messy, and poorly maintained. The price was $ 1200 per month! Finally, we found a house. It is located in Vaudreuil and will cost us over $ 2000 per month, but at least it fits our family perfectly. It has 4 bedrooms and our dog is accepted”, emphasizes the mother of the family.
Marie-Claude, prefers not to mention her last name. The young single mother of 2 young children is worried that this will harm her in her search for housing. “I have known for several months that I will have to move in July, she says. I cannot find anything! I don’t want the owners to associate my name with possible disturbance. I don’t want them to think I’m yelling in the papers for the slightest dissatisfaction. In over 6 months, I haven’t had the chance to visit even one accommodation. I am told that I will be called back and they never do. When leaving, the owners ask if I have any pets and children. As soon as I answer that I have 2 children, they tell me that they already have several visits planned and that they will call me back if the visits are not successful. I called some back, left them messages, but got no return calls. I’m starting to be afraid of not finding anything. I don’t sleep at night. This morning, I saw a semi-basement, for rent in Beauharnois for $ 1150 per month. Seriously? The woman asked for the first month rent when signing the lease. Suppose I would sign tomorrow, how do I pay the requested month in advance plus my current rent? So, I have a few days to find almost $ 2,500? I’m a single parent, that’s impossible”, she concludes, adding that she is discouraged.
For her part, Marilyn Levac says that she and her husband recently thought about selling their house. Their son expressed a desire to leave the family nest in order to settle in his first apartment with his girlfriend. However, after analyzing the situation, Mrs. Levac and her husband changed their minds. “Housing prices just don’t make sense! We postponed our project. At the price that the accommodations are now, by selling our house we were directly sending two young adults into the lion’s den. Their life begins and already, it would be mortgaged. I’d rather give them time to put that money aside to buy a house later. Even for us, in the end, housing would be more expensive than the price of our mortgage!”
