Housing crisis: Who pays $620 for housing in Quebec?

A Quebec citizen who earns $45,000 a year, the average salary, must pay no more than $620 a month for housing. Because if this limit is exceeded, the rent will no longer be “acceptable” by the authorities.

Who pays so little for their roof in the midst of a housing crisis? Almost no one.

Many Quebecers are likely to be one break away from a breakup or illness from losing everything.

Here are three examples that illustrate the consequences of sky-high real estate prices.

$1,500 a month to sleep in the living room

This Montreal woman, mother of one, recently divorced. She earns $3,160 a month after taxes, and found a new three-bedroom apartment for $1,500. This represents 47% of its budget.

She sleeps in the living room, since she left the bedroom for the baby.

The so-called “soft” rent did not exceed 25% of the budget, according to standards, before the current crisis. Today we are talking about 30% to 35%.

His rent must cost him a maximum of $1,106 to be “affordable.”

She struggles to make a decent living, cutting everything, yet she spends $600 more a month than she earns. – $7,200 per year.

She even stopped going to the gym, which was her only “fun.” If she had rent at 30% of her income, she could make ends meet with almost no debt.

However, she still cannot save for retirement.

Big loan, big expense

The 30-year-old nurse is one lucky tenant: She pays $890 for her place. Good, because she earns $2,700 a month after taxes.

Since student lines of credit were easy to come by, she overused them a bit during her studies. He earned $30,000 in total in increments of $10,000 each time.

This loan – or this “margin” as the bank says – will cost him $234 a month for 20 years. At that rate, she's only paying interest and would have to increase her monthly payments to free herself from it more quickly.

If she has the misfortune of being renovated or losing her home, it will be chaos. She currently has a monthly income of only $47.

She doesn't overdo anything: a few restaurants here and there and a gym membership are the two “luxuries” she allows herself.

She does everything she can, however'I can not do that

A 35-year-old woman pays a ridiculous $625 for her stay. She only earns $2,600 a month after taxes, which doesn't stop her from being very frugal.

She has $180,000 in assets between her TFSA, her RRSP, and other types of investments. That's $1,200 a month going into his savings.

However, the bank refuses to take out a mortgage. Example shown: $320,000 condo in Montreal with an $80,000 down payment and 5.25% financing.

She is not qualified! She does everything, everything she can, but it's not enough.

We are no longer talking about salary inequality, but rather wealth inequality, in this case. Without mom or dad, there is no salvation.