The finger pointing has begun as some residents of Kiwanis Tower in Kelowna try to cover their rent.
The Kiwanis Club, a non-profit organization, sold the building last year to a for-profit company — sparking fears among some of the tenants that they were going to lose the subsidy they receive from the province to help pay the rent.
The new owners of the building are placing much of the blame on BC housing. It says BC Housing changed its subsidy program at the end of last year — replacing with another one called the SAFER program where any subsidies are paid to the tenant instead of the landlord and those subsidies are now being paid at the end of the month instead of the beginning.
The company goes on to say that the government under the SAFER program has not been giving the tenants their subsidies on time and that the company has been carrying the outstanding balance for months.
BC Housing has issued a rebuttal saying it has not made any policy changes, as suggested by the new owners. Instead it says it was the Kiwanis Club that put the subsidies in jeopardy.
“The Central Okanagan Kiwanis decided to end their relationship with BC Housing, gave one year’s notice that they were terminating the contract between the Society and BC Housing, and sold the Kiwanis Towers to a private-numbered company. As a result, the building is no longer eligible to operate as subsidized housing under a BC Housing contract and is now considered to be private market housing.”