| I'm 71, retired and once again looking for a home in an impossible rental market

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Paula Hudson-Lunn has been a lifelong renter. But in her golden years and after decades of rent control, she’s priced out of the market

This First Person column is the experience of Paula Hudson-Lunn, who lives in Nelson, B.C. For more information about CBC's First Person stories, please see theAs a renter for nearly 50 years, I've moved a lot. I've crossed the country five times and lived in four provinces. In my 20s, moving was about going to school, following a lover or work. Back then, moving was on my terms. Rentals were plentiful and my needs were flexible.

In the early 1980s Hudson-Lunn sat down on the floor in shock and cried when her landlord told her over the phone she would have to vacate their house in 30 days. Her ex-husband snapped this photo when she asked him to document the moment. "I love it," I told the landlady, and I've lived here the past 17 years. I thought I would be here until I died.Hudson-Lunn has lived in the same rental building in Nelson, B.C., for the past 17 years.

I haven't faced something like this since that landlord in Calgary sold the house out from under me 40 years ago. I can't underscore how different my situation is. Having lived in the same place this long, provincial rent controls have protected me from market rates. Even so, I've had to supplement my pension with part-time income to afford my rent.

 

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