July 18, 2023
Low number of “renovictions” in 2022-2023
The actual number of approved renovictions in Nova Scotia is very low, according to the Nova Scotia government’s own data.
According to publicly available data from Nova Scotia Residential Tenancies, there has been an average of only two renovictions approved per month since the province’s COVID-19 renoviction ban was lifted on March 20, 2022.
“Nova Scotia’s renoviction policy provides strong protection to tenants and a clear process that rental housing providers must follow,” said Kevin Russell, Executive Director of the Investment Property Owners Association of Nova Scotia (IPOANS). “As a result, the number of approved renovictions is very rare, accounting for less than one per cent of the overall number of cases before Nova Scotia Residential Tenancies.”
From March 20, 2022, through July 16, 2023, when data was last made available, the statistics from Nova Scotia Residential Tenancies is as follows:
- 227 filings in total;
- 177 filings were from rental housing providers / 50 filings were from tenants;
- 171 filings were either dismissed, mediated or withdrawn;
- 31 filings were approved; and
- 25 filings remained under consideration as of July 16, 2023.
“Government policies like the rent cap have made the affordable housing crisis worse, forcing rental housing providers to sell their properties and reducing the number of available, affordable units for Nova Scotians in need, while pushing rents up in the new buildings that are being built,” added Russell. “The government’s own data, however, shows that its renoviction policy is working, as approved renovictions are extremely rare in Nova Scotia.”
Russell noted that this reinforces the need for government to make policy decisions based on facts and evidence.
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For more information:
c: Kevin Russell
t: 902.789.0946
e: kevin@ipoans.ca