Skip to content

Seniors’ rent subsidies still available

Tenants of Kelowna’s Kiwanis Tower meet with B.C.Housing representatives.
web1_170310-KCN-Kiwanis-Tower
The Kiwanis Tower in Kelowna.

Residents of Kelowna’s Kiwanis Tower have met with B.C. Housing representatives to clarify what rent subsidies are available to them in light of the building being sold to a private company.

Tenants of the low-rent seniors building lost the subsidies that were available to them when the building was owned and operated by the Okanagan Kiwanis Society.

B.C. Housing representatives, in the town Thursday to meet with the tenants, said some are eligible for subsidies through the province’s Shelter Aid For Elderly Renters (SAFER) program. Others who deal with disabilities, however, may not be eligible for SAFER subsidies.

Some renters have said they were recently given notices by the new owner, a private company, demanding back rent to the start of the year after the B.C. Housing rent subsidy program was in place under the Kiwanis ownership ended as a result of the sale.

The previous subsidy covered about two-thirds of their $555 per month rent.

The 41-year-old high-rise, at Gordon Road and Laurence Avenue, was owned and operated by Kiwanis up to sale late last year .