Affordable housing in Halifax getting ‘harder and harder’ to find: outreach worker

A Dartmouth-based housing outreach worker says finding affordable housing for his clients is becoming increasingly difficult.

Darcy Gillis works with Dartmouth Housing Help, a joint project of Metro Non-Profit Housing and The Public Good Society of Dartmouth. He helps low-income individuals find affordable housing within their current means.

“It’s absolutely getting harder for these individuals, especially when you’re on a fixed income,” said Gillis.

“If you’re on income assistance without disability you’re probably only receiving maybe $575 to maybe $625 a month. If you’re on income assistance with a disability you’re looking at $810 a month.”

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Gillis said some of his clients are being forced to tap into their food allowance in order to cover their living expenses.

He said most one-bedroom apartments in the city start around $600 and many don’t include utilities. He said he’s also dealt with landlords who refuse to properly maintain their buildings.

“A lot of people that have come to us in the past with issues such as rodents in their building, insects such as bedbugs, a lack of food security,” said Gillis.

He said the city desperately needs more mixed-income neighbourhoods and  housing supplements from all levels of government.

“It’s extremely frustrating for these individuals. You have a lot of people who are trying their best but due to certain circumstance they’re in the situation that they are and they just can’t afford these luxury condos that are being built in the city.”

Jim Graham from the Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia agrees.

“Currently there’s a lot of development in Halifax. There’s a lot of new development of rental housing. However, those are being rented at market and that market is $1300 a month or more,” said Graham.

He said the housing stock being developed in the Halifax-area likely isn’t accessible to anyone making less than $40,000 a year, let alone individuals living on a fixed income.

“The supply on the high-end is increasing, but on the low end of the scale there’s been no increase of supply.

He said incomes are not keeping up with the cost of living and more households and competing for the same resource.

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“There’s been no real federal initiative sponsoring public housing or affordable housing since the 1990s. Even before then they were starting to withdraw so the supply has just not been there for the past 25 or 30 years,” said Graham.

He said the cost of housing, utilities and food have all gone up and people are struggling to pay their bills.

“The most disadvantaged population are those that are single, in the social assistance system, working for low-wage,” Graham said.