Rising rents have forced an East Vancouver couple to move into an RV, even as one of them undergoes cancer treatment.

Sean Murphy and his wife bought the roving home off Craigslist after they lost their rental suite last winter. Murphy said they had been living in the suite for five years when they were hit with a rent hike they couldn't afford.

To make matters worse, the RV is currently undriveable and at risk of being towed away.

"Once that happens, I lose my home," Murphy said. "My wife and I and my two cats, which I consider my kids… the four of us will be living somewhere in the bushes, I guess."

The 46-year-old's wife is also in treatment for cancer. The couple wants to find housing, but Murphy said they would prefer to avoid the Downtown Eastside because of his past struggles with addiction.

"That's not a good place for us to be," he said. "I've been clean for a long time – a few years anyway – and I want to keep it that way."

Murphy said a bylaw officer told him he would be towed Friday morning if he didn't have the RV in driving condition. CTV News reached out to the City of Vancouver on Friday, which said it has decided to give the couple an extra week to move the vehicle.

Kathleen Llewellyn-Thomas, general manager of community services, said the city tries to approach these situations with compassion.

"In the case of someone who's living in a vehicle we exercise discretion and enforcement people are working closely with the homeless outreach people to find a solution," said Llewellyn-Thomas.

The couple's struggle is far from unique; outreach workers have moved five people from vehicles into housing since April, according to the city.

Murphy said he hopes they will be taken care of, but until that happens, he just wants to make sure they can hold onto the home they have.

With a report from CTV Vancouver's Maria Weisgarber