The Tim Houston government is favouring landlords once again by proposing an extension of the five per cent rent cap until 2027, leaving many Nova Scotians losing hope in seeing the rental market improve.
Though smaller landlords have made it clear they too benefit from fixed-term leases, opposition parties and housing advocates say this bill’s failure provides incentive for larger corporate landlords to boost rents past five per cent for new tenants.
Nova Scotia NDP leader Claudia Chender spoke to the disappointment in a statement released by the party. The statement read in part, “This flawed policy incentivizes evictions, drives up market rents, and leads to widespread housing insecurity and, in some cases, homelessness. All Nova Scotians deserve to be safe and housed. This is the purpose of our legislation.”
Lack of clear housing plan despite population increases
The Houston government has made it clear they have a plan to make the single largest investment in public housing in the last 30 years. What is not clear is how the plan will come to fruition. While Tim Houston’s current housing plan focuses on much needed housing for students across the province, it fails to address items such as the rent cap loophole or the growing number of encampments across the HRM.
Despite having been in power since 2021, the Houston government has little to show for the work on their housing plan. One of the largest projects to date was the $1.3 million investment into a partnership with the ‘Happipad’ app, in the summer of 2023. While the app had good intentions to provide incentive to Nova Scotians to turn spare bedrooms into units for renters, it has only signed 31 leases as of August 28, 2024.
The province’s population has been on a steady incline, reaching 1.05 million residents in July 2021, largely attributed to immigration and inter-provincial moves.
Tim Houston was quoted in an interview regarding his lofty goal of hitting a population of two million by 2060 saying, “We need more people. Our demographics are not great. So doubling the population, for me, is about right-sizing our demographics. It’s about making the province younger.”
But even if such growth can be sustained, there are questions about its logicality, as these statements are made while the province is facing a housing and affordability crisis the likes of which no one here can remember. Vacancy rates in Halifax hover around one per cent and rent costs have increased by 9.3 per cent in the last year, the highest spike in the country for residential rental costs.
Non-profit organizations left to pick up the pieces
Many non-profit organizations around the HRM have had to make up for lack of affordable housing, particularly as the five per cent rent cap proposed extension does not protect renters if they move units.
One example is Adsum, a group who provides shelter and support to marginalized individuals, and whose demand for services has greatly increased. In the month of April 2024, Adsum received over 90 calls from families requiring immediate support.
Meghan Hansford, a program manager at Adsum, attributed this to the end of many fixed-term leases. Although many non-profit organizations are stepping in to offer support in regards to food security, healthcare and gender-based violence, all are at a loss for housing.
While non-profit organizations seek to provide as much assistance as they can, the provincial government quietly tightened the eligibility requirements for the provincial subsidy known as rent supplement in January 2023. With hundreds of people completely disqualified from the program, it left many without the ability to afford rent at all.
Moreover, Nova Scotians are unable to move without being priced out, leaving many to live in dangerous conditions. According to ACORN’s fixed-term lease report, landlords who use fixed-term leases are not doing necessary repairs. Of the tenants surveyed, 60.4 per cent said they had maintenance issues when they moved in, and 60.1 per cent said they have maintenance issues now.
Nova Scotia is more than just the Halifax Regional Municipality
With 58.9 per cent of Nova Scotia’s population reported to live in a city center in 2021, much of the provincial funding becomes concentrated within urban areas. This leaves the 41.1 per cent in rural areas with less funding and therefore less access to resources. Some municipal officials in rural Cape Breton said even though they don’t have tent cities like Halifax, housing and homelessness are problems for them too.
Between the fixed-term lease loophole and many properties being used as short-term housing units like Airbnb’s, municipal governments are feeling the pressure of being the ones who receive calls for help. The Cape Breton Regional Municipality, the largest municipality on Cape Breton Island, is short 1,000 housing units, a number that could double in the next decade if steps aren’t taken to grow the housing stock, according to its provincial needs assessment.
Housing is a human right
In March of 2021, the NDP’s former leader Gary Burrill introduced Bill No. 43, rightly named the Housing as a Human Right Act.
“There are many solutions to the housing crisis in Nova Scotia,” said NDP Housing spokesperson Lisa Roberts in regards to the act. “Permanent rent control, inclusionary zoning, and support for non-profit housing providers would go a long way to addressing affordability and housing supply.”
In 2023, Gary Burrill moved two amendments to the bill extending Nova Scotia’s temporary rent control, one being to close the fixed-term lease loophole. The government used the majority of its committee to vote down both amendments.
It is clear the current Houston government only believes in this right when it is afforded to those they see fit. It is easier for them to continue lining the pockets of their landlord friends than it is to extend a hand to some of Nova Scotia’s most vulnerable.
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