Saanich News, April 13, 2012

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SAANICHNEWS Searching the deep

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Seasonal migration underway Surge in subleases, as post-secondary students leave town Kyle Slavin News staff

If you find your Saanich street suddenly vacant in the coming weeks, don’t panic – it’s not the plague. The university students have all just gone home. But the reality facing many students who’ve lived off campus for the last eight months is many signed a one-year lease last September, leaving them on the hook to pay rent through the summer. Rebecca Koch pays $550 a month to live in a four-bedroom house just steps from the University of Victoria on the Gordon Head-Cadboro Bay border. The 20-year-old who is studying business is banking on finding a summer student to sublet her room for the remainder of the lease. Koch is going home to the Lower Mainland in May and won’t be returning. But finding a replacement tenant is proving tougher than she Make sure your subtenant: thought. So tough, in fact, she’s ■ knows when they must decided to rent for cheaper than move out; what she pays. ■ knows what the rental “I’m completely willing to go unit comes with (Are utilities down $100 a month, as long as included? Is the room someone takes over my lease,” furnished?); Koch said, acknowledging she’d ■ knows how to contact you rather pay the difference than the and your landlord; full rate for an empty bedroom. ■ provides you with a security “It’s hard because there’s so deposit (no more than half a many students (in the same situmonth’s rent); ation I am), and so little demand ■ knows your expectations for any of the houses.” (date and time, cleanliness) It’s the same story for Sarah Hein, for when they are to move out. who, along with her four other room– Residential Tenancy Branch mates, is looking to sublet all five rooms in their rented house for the summer. They, too, are trying to get their place rented in the short-term by offering a $125 per month discount per person on rent.

“What actually has been a big problem is people want the place for longer. They want it for next year, too,” said the 20-year-old Hein, a third-year applied linguistics student. According to numbers from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Victoria’s rental vacancy rate typically goes up in April. “There’s many factors that influence movement in and out of the rental market, and you would expect that students moving out of rental units, that would free up some spots,” said Carol Frketich, B.C. regional economist with CMHC. Seventy per cent of UVic’s population – or 16,199 students – aren’t originally from Greater Victoria, while Camosun College sees 17 per cent of its students (2,210) come from outside of the Capital Region. Both post-secondary institutions are now in their final exam periods, which means an exodus of students from now until the end of April. A spokesperson with the Residential Tenancy Branch said students should do their homework before accepting a subtenant. “Be sure that your tenancy agreement allows you to sublet,” the spokesperson said first and foremost, and get your landlord’s permission in writing. Other suggestions include asking prospective subtenants for references – and checking them out. “Is the tenant who they say they are? Is the tenant able to pay the rent? Is the tenant reliable? How likely is the tenant to be noisy or to disturb other occupants of the building?” Write up a subletting agreement, and conduct a move-in inspection with the subtenant you choose. “Be clear about when rent is due, and who it should be paid to. Have a contingency plan in case the subtenant doesn’t pay on time,” the spokesperson said. “Find out what the tenant plans to do when the sublet is over. Is the tenant likely to leave when you (want them to)?” kslavin@saanichnews.com

May 1 till August 30

Tips for subleasing

Gray Rothnie

Saanich cop hit after being mistaken for traffic cone A Saanich police officer was hit by a car Monday while attempting to pull the vehicle over for making an illegal turn. The traffic safety officer was monitoring traffic at McKenzie Avenue and Cedar Hill X Road around 5:15 p.m. when she saw a red 1980 Plymouth Volare turn left onto McKenzie, contrary to the posted sign. She tried to stop the vehicle by stepping out into traffic and flagging the car over, but the driver kept going, sideswiping the officer’s leg. The officer hit the hood of the car with her hand twice to get the driver’s attention but he continued along McKenzie. He was stopped further down the road by a patrol officer. The driver, an elderly male, said he thought he hit a traffic cone. He was issued $259 worth of tickets for disobeying a traffic stop and failing to stop for police. He was also referred to ICBC to have his licence reviewed. The Saanich officer was not injured. kslavin@saanichnews.com

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