Saint John development growth shows promise, raises questions of affordability

The residential development industry has seen an increase, according to the director of permits and development with the City of Saint John.

Amy Poffenroth said the city saw growth unlike any year in the past decade.

She said the city expects roughly 600 units in the wings over the next several years, pending approvals from the council.

“We haven’t seen that kind of numbers, you know, in recent memory, that’s for sure,” she said in an interview Wednesday. “Just the construction activity alone spurs economic growth and jobs and employment, which is wonderful news.”

Poffenroth said the city is prioritizing affordable housing, but the finer details lay with community partners and the provincial government.

The province has conducted a 90-day review of the rental market and made 12 recommendations.

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While the report notes in its opening pages that the province is “not currently in a housing crisis,” it paints a dire picture of how many people are being failed by the current system. Along with a jurisdictional scan, civil servants spoke to more than 4,000 tenants and 1,000 landlords and developers.

1:36 Advocacy group says N.B. government out of step with priorities in housing crisis

Aditya Rao, with the New Brunswick Coalition for Tenants Rights, said building developments don’t mean much if people can’t afford to live in them.

Rao said rents continue to soar and he gets calls from tenants every second day with issues. In New Brunswick, tenants have very little protection or legislation for their rights, he said.

“We have a situation where we know that real estate investment trusts are coming to this province at higher than every rate because there is no tenants protection,” he said. “We know that the data shows that there is a high proliferation of real estate investment trusts in jurisdictions where tenants protections are weak. Why? Because it is profitable to exploit tenants.”

He worries about how many of these developers are from out of province and says information isn’t always readily available here because of the archaic tenant’s legislation.

Meanwhile, Poffenroth said many of the developers in Saint John are from New Brunswick.

She said the growth is expected to continue for the foreseeable future.

“We’re excited to see the next couple of years,” she said. “It’s trending in the right direction.”