Achi news desk-
‘Now Renting’ signs have gone up in Halifax — and more could be on the way.
In the federal government’s latest budget, there were a number of measures aimed at helping renters.
“ACORN is happy with what has been announced, and we think those steps can help low to moderate income people, but there is still a lot to do,” said Nichola Taylor, board representative national for ACORN.
The Liberals set out a strategy on Tuesday to add almost four million homes by 2031.
The Nova Scotia Building Society is happy to see such a focus on housing in the budget, but its president and CEO say it’s nearly impossible to keep up with demand.
“Our biggest challenge is labour, of course, and getting the people to build all the houses. It could be single family, it could be multi-residential. It’s just a people’s game at the moment,” said Duncan Williams.
The budget also included steps to make it easier to own or rent a home, including getting a credit score for paying rent, protecting renters’ rights, and aligning immigration with housing capacity.
“We are doing a great job bringing new people to Canada. We need to do a much better job bringing people to Canada who have construction experience,” said Williams.
The federal government plans to build 250,000 new homes on public land, such as unused or underutilized office towers and parking lots. It is also looking at building on National Defense lands and Canada Post property, as well as converting some federal offices into homes.
Although Nova Scotia Housing Minister John Lohr is generally satisfied with the budget, there is an area in which he would like to see some work.
“We have announced 247 new public housing units in Nova Scotia. There is a great demand for public housing units. This is not something that is in the budget. That would be a cause for concern for us,” said Lohr.
ACORN also highlighted some other areas of concern for renters.
“We’d like to see, obviously, rent caps in place and a stronger stance on renewal because we’re seeing too many people being displaced,” Taylor said.
The Investment Property Owners Association of Nova Scotia was not entirely satisfied with the budget.
“Unfortunately, the federal government’s housing plan and budget do not provide support for those who provide the current supply of affordable housing,” Executive Director Kevin Russell said in a statement to CTV News.
Russell is calling on the government to meet with its members to develop ‘practical solutions’ for affordable housing.
