Rent costs soar in Halifax, now ranked 20th most expensive city in Canada – Halifax | PKBNEWS
A new report shows that the cost of rent continues to climb in Halifax.
Industry experts say this is pushing more people out of the market and keeping others stuck in units they may have outgrown.
A new report from Rentals.ca, which examines new units hitting the market, shows the city has seen a further rise in prices.
“Halifax ranked 20th on our list of the most expensive cities in Canada with a one-bedroom apartment costing $1,863 per month and a two-bedroom apartment costing $2,259 per month,” says Giacomo Ladas, director of communications at Rentals.ca.
This represents a year-over-year increase of 9 percent for a one-bedroom apartment and 6 percent for a two-bedroom apartment. The average asking rent in Canada hit a record high of $2,078 in July.
Rentals.ca publishes its rent reports monthly.
“I think it’s important, especially for tenants, because it allows them to properly set their expectations,” says Ladas. “Generally, we thought 30 percent of your income would be spent on housing, 20 percent you would save, and that’s how the split would look. But it’s not like that anymore.
Lisa Hayhurst lives in an apartment in Highfield Park and is President of the Dartmouth Chapter of ACORN. She, the independent tenant advocacy group, wants the rent cap to stay in place because people are struggling.
“I think it’s very difficult for everyone, because there are so many people who have nowhere to go,” Hayhurst said.
She is on the list to find affordable housing because she has to leave her apartment for at least two weeks due to upcoming renovations. She is afraid that it will last longer.
“No one will know where to go or what to do,” says Hayhurst. “I only have a part-time job and I don’t have a lot of money.”
Advocates agree people feel stuck.
“If you’re about to have kids and want a three-bedroom apartment, all of a sudden you can’t find a one-bedroom apartment,” says Michael Kabalen, managing director of the Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia. “But if you’re in a three-bedroom apartment and your kids are gone and you only need a one-bedroom apartment, why would you pay the same for less?”
And they say more people are excluded from the price.
Dalhousie University professor Jeff Karabanow works closely with homeless people in the city. “We are really living in a housing crisis,” he says. “Rents are out of control. »
He says the risk increases for more people as rent prices continue to rise.
“We have low-income people, middle-cla*s people, newcomer people, all of whom are now struggling to get something affordable and stable,” he says.
Kevin Russell, executive director of the Investment Property Owner’s Association, says rent caps are not helping small property owners who are selling amid losing profits.
“People who buy them are going to move into those units and go back to owning – owning a single-family home,” says Russell. “It takes more rentals out of the market.”
Karabanow says immediate action is needed.
“We should declare this an emergency,” he said.
“We really should get all levels of government around the table with the private sector to start thinking about how we can put measures in place so that we can immediately transform the stocks that currently exist into something more affordable. »
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