Union: Extending the Rent Cap Is Nothing but a Stop-Gap Measure

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--While CUPE Nova Scotia is pleased to see that the rental cap has been extended for the next two years, it is clear that the Houston government is prioritizing the interests of landlords over fixing the housing crisis.

“The new amendments spent more time introducing ways to kick renters out of their homes than addressing the current housing crisis,” said CUPE Nova Scotia President Nan McFadgen. “Tell me why we’re making it easier to evict tenants rather than addressing the soaring costs of rent in this province?”

The new changes introduced today by the Nova Scotia government shorten the period landlords must wait to begin the process of evicting renters for non-payment to just 3 days – down from the previous 15. It also made it easier to evict tenants the landlord has deemed problematic, a definition that now includes repeated late payments.

“Nova Scotians are struggling to make ends meet, and that means sometimes payments are late,” said McFadgen. “Being a few days late shouldn’t mean you lose your home – neither should a landlord’s desire to hike rent or renovate a unit so they can charge more. These are the real issues facing Nova Scotians, not a few late payments or subletting.”

The new changes also did not address the glaring loophole of fixed-term leases, which have been used throughout the province to increase rent over the current cap of 5%. All a landlord must do is refuse to re-sign a lease with their current tenant, and they can set the price for the new tenant at whatever they wish. This process has also been used for renovictions, a term coined to call out landlords who kick out tenants in order to “improve” the property and hike the price.

“This year alone, rent has increased, on average, 17.1% in Nova Scotia despite the 5% rent cap. It’s clear the rent cap isn’t going to fix the housing crisis by itself, but the Houston government is too busy worrying about the interests of 6,000 landlords to do more to actually help the over 300,000 people renting in this province,” said McFadgen.

Last year, instead of closing the fixed-term loophole or banning renovictions, the Houston government spent 1.3 million dollars on an online platform to help Nova Scotians find housing. In a year, only 60 rooms were posted and, of those, only 23 were rented.

“We are facing a housing crisis. A temporary rent cap littered with loopholes or yet another million-dollar app barely anyone uses isn’t enough to fix this problem. In the HRM alone, at least 1,316 Nova Scotians are homeless and 150 are sleeping in ever-expanding tent encampments. The government needs to do more to help, and they could – they’re just choosing not to.”

:sm/cope 491