Nova Scotia Liberals nix NDP push for rent control

Premier Stephen McNeil quickly quashed a proposal from the NDP to bring rent control back to Nova Scotia.

NDP community services critic and Dartmouth North MLA Susan Leblanc introduced the bill in the legislature on Tuesday. It would limit rent increases on residential properties to 0.8 per cent in the first year and 2.5 per cent for subsequent years.

The bill would also limit how often a landlord can raise rent to once a year.

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“Rents are too high in Nova Scotia,” Leblanc said Tuesday pointing to a PadMapper report that said Halifax is the tenth most expensive city to rent in Canada.

She also said the number of people paying more than 30 per cent of their income for housing is also too high. 30 cent is often cited as the benchmark for how much people should be paying for housing.

Leblanc said in the Halifax Regional Municipality one out of every four people is putting more than 30 per cent of their income towards rent.

She said in the urban core it’s worse, with approximately one in three people devoting more than 30 per cent of their income to rent.

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McNeil said his government is focusing its efforts on helping low income Nova Scotians pay for their housing, but that the market should set the price for rent.

“The market would set that price, we need to be able to make sure that those who are investing in market are seeing that they return on their entire portfolio,” he said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "The market would set that price, we need to be able to make sure that those who are investing in market are seeing that they return on their entire portfolio," he said.

McNeil said his government’s affordable housing stock coupled with rent supplements help low income Nova Scotians cover housing costs.

“We’re achieving results,” he said.

A 2016 Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation report pegged the increase in rent costs for Nova Scotia at 3.1 per cent for a bachelor apartment and 2.3 per cent for a one bedroom apartment.

The increase compares October 2015 to October 2016.