A Sackville man who is searching for affordable housing says he’s encountered roadblocks, including landlords who won’t accept him as a tenant because he has children.
But an advocate for the rights of tenants says that’s an example of rental discrimination, which is illegal under provincial human rights legislation.
“I think that it’s important to make [people aware] that is not legal, this kind of discrimination,” says Jael Duarte, a lawyer and tenants’ advocate for New Brunswick, employed by the Saint John-based Human Development Council.
The home rented by Reggie Beal, a father of three, is up for sale, and he’s been trying to find an affordable place to live with his three young children.
By Sunday, he was still searching for a home using online platforms like Kijiji and Facebook, and by word-of-mouth. So far, nothing’s worked.
“Basically, we’ve tried to find places that will accept, first of all, children,” he says. “And second of all, we’re trying to find places that is affordable.”
That means anywhere from $750 to $900 a month for the grocery store worker. He says the price of housing suitable for his family now tends to range from $1,100 to upwards of $2,500, not including utilities.
He’s a member of the Affordable Housing Initiative, which made a presentation at Monday’s public meeting of Sackville town council.
For more on this story, CHMA spoke to the Fredericton-based tenants’ advocate, asking her how widespread housing discrimination based on family status is in New Brunswick.
