Rent in Saint John has increased nearly 10 per cent, according to a report by the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
The city presented the data to its growth committee last week, which showed that average rent increased 9.8 per cent in 2023, compared to the eight per cent at the national level.
“(I’m) not surprised, right,” said Brent Harris, a Saint John city councillor. “We’ve seen this trajectory for the last three years. Ten per cent is high, there is no question. It’s higher than I would have like to have seen.”
Harris said it is difficult to see this data given how tied municipalities hands are when it comes to housing — which is a provincial responsibility.
He said he feels frustrated, especially for his constituents who are turning to him with questions.
“There has been no policies put in place to prevent this level of profiteering — for the large part — the same buildings that were there five years ago,” he said.
Harris spoke of a continued problem of developers buying existing properties and then increasing rent without much renovation, if any.
“(I’m) crying for a solution here,” he said. “It is really frustrating and I am upset.”
The city said the vacancy rate sits at about 2.4 per cent, which is lower than required to keep the housing stock healthy enough to keep up with population growth.
Andy Reid, with the City of Saint John, said the data takes up about three quarters of the rental market, leaving out about three to four thousand units. It also does not include single-residential homes.
“There really is a problem there, too much demand and not enough supply,” he said.
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He said the city is working toward building more supply, aiming to have 700 housing starts annually to meet its growth targets.
“We really through our different strategies need to be pulling on all the levers we can to help increase supply but also help create a housing system that offers a diversity of options for the people in our community,” he said.
According to the report, a two-bedroom apartment costs on average $1,090 in 2023, compared to $1,007 in 2022.
The average rent increased from $947 to about $1,027.
The average for a two-bedroom has increased 20 per cent in the past three years.
For Matthew Hayes, with the New Brunswick Coalition for Tenants Rights, increasing supply falls short if affordability is not part of the solution.
He, too, pointed to increasing number of multi-unit dwellings being purchased, with rents being increased between tenants.
He said the increase is a predictable byproduct of not having any rent controls in the province. Failing to control the rental market will inevitably push more low-and-middle income earnings out of their housing.
“All of our marbles are being placed in the ‘we need to build more housing’ and we’re not actually considering who we are building housing for and is it affordable for enough of the population,” he said in an interview,
He explained without rent controls and things like inclusionary zoning, the market will continue to see increases in market rent.
The city said it will continue to work on implementing the 39 action items in the housing plans to try and fill the gaps in the current housing market.
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