Evicted N.B. tenants say they can't find new apartments close to home
CBC
Residents of an apartment building in northern New Brunswick say they're scrambling to find a new home after their building was sold to a company that specializes in housing for health-care workers.
Tenants of the building in Campbellton have been told they have until July 2 to move out.
But they say they can't find anything suitable to rent in the area.
Raymond Pitre, one of the residents, told Radio-Canada that no local apartments of the same quality are available. He had sold his property to move to the apartment he now calls home.
"I would have wanted to stay here for the rest of my life," he said in French. "That's why we had sold. We were starting to get older and we did not want to have the troubles that come with a house."
Francine O'Brien, another resident of the complex, agreed that their other choices were slim.
"No one wants the ones that are left," she said, also in French. "We have a nice apartment here and we hope to have the same thing, but it's not easy to find."
Jean-Guy Levesque, the mayor of Campbellton, was not optimistic and confirmed that finding rental housing in the city is a problem.
He said he met with one of the tenants being evicted and is looking into whether there is anything the municipality can do to help, but he sees no immediate solutions.
"I'm really sad about this situation. … Right now in Campbellton the rental availability is under one per cent and that means we don't have [many] apartments," said Levesque.
"Right now, to be honest with you, we don't have a specific plan but we're working on building a plan, but at the same time, making sure we have something for this summer," he said, acknowledging that new units will not materialize soon enough to help those being evicted in this case.
This apartment building is a relatively new development, according to the mayor. It's a former church that was converted to residential units about two years ago.
Levesque said it's the second building the new corporate landlord has bought in the city centre, and tenants were told the units will be rented out to medical staff working in the region temporarily.
The new owner of the building is listed as CSL RE Inc., a corporation with a registered office in Stanhope, P.E.I.
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