Housing debate reveals a clash of ideologies

Beneath the bluster and partisan barbs that punctuate debate in the Nova Scotia legislature, there is a clash of ideologies.

For lower income Nova Scotians — acutely in the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) and increasingly in other parts of the province — there is a housing crisis. Demand far exceeds available, affordable housing units, and it’s only getting worse.

Landlords are upgrading properties to convert units that were once affordable to people on low incomes — if only just — into more upscale apartments and condos. Even without upgrades, many renters face rent increases that push the cost of their apartments beyond their ability to pay.

Nova Scotia’s NDP advocates government intervention in the marketplace in the form of rent controls and tighter regulation of shortterm rentals like Airbnb, which reduce the supply of long-term housing.

The governing Liberals reject government intervention in the marketplace in favour of support targeted to those who need it.

In terms of housing policy, that support takes the form of rent supplements that are intended to help low income families make up the difference between what they can afford and the market price.

The government says rent controls don’t work and the New Democrats counter that rent supplements are ineffective. Supplements, in effect, subsidize landlords, but they become useless when landlords choose tenants who don’t qualify for — or need — supplements over those who do.

In rental markets with vacancy rates at or near one per cent — like HRM — landlords can afford to be selective.

NDP leader Gary Burrill says, as a result of the Liberal government’s “perfect storm of failed policies,” far too many low income Nova Scotians are being forced out of their homes by rent increases they can’t absorb.

Burrill told the legislature last week rent increases that far exceed the increase in the cost of living are commonplace. Rent controls would limit landlords’ ability to hike rents to whatever level the market will bear, which in too many cases is more than low income Nova Scotians can pay.

Dartmouth North New Democrat Susan Leblanc pointed out that many families who rely on income assistance are being forced out of their homes and placed in short-term accommodations, in suburban hotel/motels.

Leblanc paints a dismal picture of the life endured by these families — predominantly single moms with kids. Living in motel units, mothers struggle, or are unable to do everyday things for their kids, like make school lunches or cook a family meal for supper.

The NDP also wants much stronger regulation of the short-term rental market.

Halifax Needham New Democrat Lisa Roberts points out that in Halifax alone more than 700 housing units have been converted to short-term rentals — the most prominent being Airbnb — which reduce available long-term housing.

The NDP wants legislation that empowers municipalities to restrict the growth of short-term rentals in their communities when the vacancy rate is low, citing HRM’S one-per-cent vacancy rate as an example.

“Municipalities are dealing with this housing shortage on a daily basis. This would give municipalities the power to intervene in the shortterm rental market where every unit counts toward a family finding a home,” said Roberts.

The government recently introduced regulations on short-term rentals, but as Business Minister Geoff Maclellan noted those regulations were intended to level the playing field between traditional tourist operations and platforms like Airbnb.

The government views the transition of low-rent housing to more upscale rentals as a sign of a thriving Nova Scotian economy and believes government intervention should be limited to helping those left behind, rather than intervening in the market.

The two parties agree, at least in principle, on the need for more pubic housing, and the province has signed an agreement with the federal government that will result in a $394-million investment in Nova Scotia’s public housing over 10 years.

The NDP says most of that money is needed just to upgrade existing units which, while necessary, won’t reduce the long lists of Nova Scotians waiting to get into public housing.

Housing tends to define communities, and the healthiest communities tend to offer a mix of housing options and prices that bridge the socioeconomic divide. If market forces are ill-equipped to meet that objective — as they appear — government intervention seems warranted.