Family of four struggling to find long-term rental in Cape Breton since December

A family of four who moved from Sri Lanka to Cape Breton in December is still struggling to find a house to rent in Sydney, N.S., while they pay thousands of dollars a month staying at an Airbnb.

Buddhika Jayawardana, her husband and two daughters, aged seven and eight, moved to Cape Breton in December so Jayawardana could study at Cape Breton University. Since they arrived, the couple has been unable to find jobs or a suitable place for her family to live long term. 

Because she wants her family to have privacy and safety. They have stayed in three separate Airbnbs since Dec. 15.

Jayawardana was supposed to start at university in September, but because of complications, she had to defer her studies until January. She wasn't aware when she came to the island that Nova Scotia is in the middle of a housing crisis.

Jayawardana said that the rentals she has viewed in the past two months aren't places she wants her children to live in.

"The problem is most of them are unhygienic and now the most concerning problem is that they are renting the place, not as a whole unit. They are renting it as separate rooms on a sharing basis. So especially as a family, we can't live in a cluster like that because we need to have our own privacy."

She added that she was also concerned about the safety of her children if they were to live in a small room with other tenants, since a house fire killed an international student in December.

Widespread problem

There are hundreds of people across the province in the same situation as Jayawardana and her family.

Alyce MacLean is the project manager of housing development for New Dawn Enterprises, a community development organization.

She said the problems Jayawardana is facing are common throughout Cape Breton Island. 

"We have individuals in our offices every single day looking for apartments to rent. We are at capacity and have been at capacity for many years," said MacLean.

'Heartbreaking'

"So it's quite heartbreaking for us when we have individuals coming in wanting to fill out rental applications every single day looking for apartments and … we are full."

Catherine Leviten-Reid, an associate professor at Cape Breton University in the community economic development program, agrees.

"Canada Mortgage and Housing collects data from landlords once a year or so. They do that in early October of every year. And the vacancy rate for CBRM was released just a few weeks ago and it's 1.5 per cent. So that's an incredibly low vacancy rate," said Leviten-Reid, who also researches housing.

"That's something that I haven't seen here in my years living in the community. So that tells you that there's just very little housing to be found and many people who can't find housing or afford to live in what is available."

Burning through savings

Jayawardana said she's kept her daughters out of school until they know where they will live. And that's causing stress.

Because she and her husband aren't working, they've been using their savings and have had to make tough decisions when it comes to money, like staying home because they can't afford taxis and cutting down on groceries.

She says there should be more help for international students who are going through a situation like hers.

"There should be some sort of program with collaboration with this provincial government or the municipal regions because it's really difficult for newcomers to find accommodation and settle."