CHENDER: Homes Within Reach for all Nova Scotians

Everyone deserves a place to call home. A place to build a life, raise a family, and retire in comfort.

As the cost of living continues to rise, affording a home is becoming a challenge for more and more Nova Scotians. We hear from them almost every day: young professionals living with their parents, families unable to save for a down payment on their first home, seniors on fixed incomes who can’t afford a rent increase, and so many others. Increasingly, the homes people need – and deserve – are out of reach.

It doesn’t have to be this way, and it’s not too late to turn things around. It won’t be easy, but it can be done. With smart decision-making and the right investments, Nova Scotia New Democrats have a plan to bring homes within reach to all Nova Scotians.

First, we need to combat the skyrocketing increases in the cost of housing. We need real rent control. The rent cap put in place by the Liberals and extended by the Conservatives has been a failure. While the cap is set at five per cent, the average rent for a two-bedroom unit rose by more than triple that in 2023. Renters in this province are losing their homes because of the fixed-term lease loophole, where their landlord can evict them to raise rent for the next person. They deserve better.

We used to have a form of rent control that worked for everyone. Renters were protected from huge spikes in rent with predictable annual increases, while landlords were given the option to apply to raise rent past the cap if the cost of maintaining the unit became too high. Versions of this still exist across the country; we need to bring back real rent control where nobody is left behind. We’ve done it before, and we can do it again.

We also need to make sure that renters are able to offset their bills as rents continue to rise. NDP governments in B.C. and Manitoba have tax credits for renters – and the NDP in Nova Scotia would provide the same. Renters make up more than one in three Nova Scotian households, and more than a third of them are spending over 30 per cent of their incomes on rent.

We need to build more housing as quickly as we can. The root of this housing crisis is decades of failure to build enough housing to keep up with our rapidly growing population. Past governments have failed to plan for the future, and now, we’re paying the price.

The answer to the housing crisis is to build more housing and to make sure that it’s affordable. Nova Scotia’s Housing Needs Assessment estimates the province will need 71,600 new housing units by 2027. Experts have called for half of them to be affordable, non-market housing.

By focusing on affordable, efficient, permanent housing built with prefabricated, panelized, or modular construction we can address labour-force issues and expedite building the homes we need. By supporting and expanding the non-market housing sector, we can ensure that we are not just expediting housing, but prioritizing affordable housing for the people who need it now.

It is non-market housing providers who have proven that these low-cost, energy-efficient building approaches work. Examples like True North Crescent built by the Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia and the Sunflower by Adsum were cost-effective to build, went from shovels to occupancy within 18 months, and are a model for how to conceive, design and deliver affordable non-market housing. The 273 units of public housing the Houston government is planning to build over the next several years is needed, but it is also a drop in the bucket. More needs to be done, yesterday.

Last, we must ensure that people are more easily able to transition into homeownership if they wish. Young people need hope that they can live and raise their families in the province they love. The NSNDP will expand the province’s Down Payment Assistance Program by increasing both loan amounts and repayment periods. These initiatives will help lower overall mortgages and monthly costs for first-time homeowners.

Together, we can build a province where young people want to – and are able to – stay. We can build a province where seniors can retire and not worry about being priced out of their homes and neighbourhoods. A province where the promise of a home you can afford is within reach.

Claudia Chender is the Leader of Nova Scotia’s New Democrats.