More talk won’t build the housing Nova Scotians need
By Kevin Russell
A year ago, spurred by the work undertaken by the Nova Scotia Affordable Housing Commission, the Investment Property Owners Association of Nova Scotia (IPOANS) asked the longstanding economic analysis firm Gardner Pinfold to prepare a detailed report on Nova Scotia’s rental housing affordability.
Gardner Pinfold used data from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation and Statistics Canada. Anyone can read the report here https://www.ipoans.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Rental_Housing_Affordability_In_NS_Gardner_Pinfold_Report_IPOANS.pdf
The report was a data-based reality check on the anecdotes advanced by politicians, activists, and media around what’s happening in housing in Nova Scotia.
Among its findings:
- Most private sector rental housing providers are small operators;
- Costs to operate buildings have been outstripping rental revenues required to pay for these costs; and
- Rent control neither ensures affordability or supports the construction the ability to get new, quality rental housing built.
On a positive note, the Gardner Pinfold also noted that according to CMHC, in 2019, Halifax led the country in having more than 4,000 rental housing units under construction.
Unfortunately, Nova Scotia needs a lot more construction to meet the demand of Nova Scotians who have a critical housing need. Gardner Pinfold’s concluded that there’s a need for at least 20,000 new rental units to be built in Nova Scotia and possibly as many as 30,000 new units.
This would not take into account the province’s successful efforts to date of increasing our population.
Everybody has a role to play in building new housing – the private sector, the public sector and not-for-profit.
No one sector can get the job done of building new housing and anyone who suggests otherwise does not have facts or real-world housing development experience to support that belief.
The Gardner Pinfold report recommended a 10-year, $1.6 billion plan to get housing built in this province.
Unfortunately, the only difference Nova Scotians have seen in the past year is that the previous Liberal government promised to invest $25 million as recommended by the Affordable Housing Commission, while the current PC government pats itself on the back for investing $35 million or $35,000 per unit to assisting in building just over 1,000 affordable housing units.
With an estimated construction costs of $150,000 per door to construct an apartment unit. This just won’t cut it. And our affordable housing and homelessness crisis will continue to get worse and worse.
Here are the solutions the Gardner Pinfold report recommended to accelerate the construction of affordable housing:
- Annual property tax rebates for the development of affordable housing units. Conceptually, developers who build or renovate rental property with an affordable housing component would receive a full or partial rebate on the annual property taxes that apply to the affordable housing units. The City of St. Catharine’s has a successful program like this.
- An HST rebate on affordable housing construction, based on similar programs in Ontario and Manitoba.
- Requiring all municipal surplus lands to be evaluated for “housing first” needs, reflecting programs that exist in Ontario municipalities like London, Peel Region and Muskoka.
- Reworking provincial affordable housing subsidies to reflect higher cost jurisdictions.
- Waiving municipal development charges for private sector affordable housing construction, with the Region of Waterloo’s program as a possible example.
All of these solutions – and more – have been advanced to former Premier Iain Rankin’s government and Premier Tim Houston’s government. None of the solutions re-invent the wheel and are successfully in place in other jurisdictions.
It’s time for governments to “walk the talk.” It’s time for governments to stop finger pointing and show real leadership on Nova Scotia’s affordable housing file. It’s time for governments to work with, not against, the people with a proven track record building rental housing in this province – professional, private sector rental housing providers.
Less talk. More solutions.
Link to resource: More talk won’t build the housing Nova Scotians need
Topics: Editorials