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“Better to be paranoid than sorry" : women's housing experiences in the city of Kelowna

University of British Columbia

Housing is not only a fundamental human right and physiological need; it also a key determinant of quality of life. This study focuses on the barriers and challenges that women experience when locating affordable rental housing in the city of Kelowna, one of Canada's most expensive housing markets. This study also pays close attention to women’s housing preferences and concerns. The coping strategies employed by women to overcome the barriers present in the rental housing market are also examined. Finally, this paper makes recommendations for improving the rental housing experiences of women living in small and mid-size cities in Canada. Data for this study was collected through self-administered questionnaire surveys completed by 25 women living in rental housing in Kelowna. The questionnaire survey focused on the participants' rental housing experiences and the barriers they faced when searching for rental housing. Additional information was collected through informal follow-up interviews with a subsample of participants (n=5) to elaborate on themes that emerged through the questionnaire survey, particularly the preferences and concerns that characterized participant’s housing searches. Informal interviews were also conducted with ten key informants who were experts on housing and women’s health. Key informants provided recommendations for improving the housing situation in Kelowna and the housing experiences of female renters. Results from this study indicate that women living in rental housing in the city of Kelowna face significant barriers in the rental housing market and that women have many pressing housing concerns and preferences that are not being met. The primary barriers experienced by participants included high rental housing costs and a lack of affordable housing in safe or desirable neighborhoods. Participants also indicated a preference for living with roommates who were also female. The final significant barriers reported by participants included discrimination based on level and source of income and discrimination based on gender. This study expands the existing body of literature about the housing experiences of women by examining how gender affects the housing experiences of renters who self-identify as a female in a mid-size city in Canada.

Text

2020-09-17

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/76066

Interdisciplinary Studies

University of British Columbia

UBCO

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/