THE HOUSING MARKET
Pushed out As the housing crunch worsens, some landlords are turfing tenants in the pursuit of higher rents
BY JANET WHITMAN
FOLLOW THE MONEY
F
THE CRUNCH number of people
$100,000: the jump in price since last year to construct a 48-unit, purpose-built apartment rental building in Halifax $1,621: average rent for a one-bedroom; an 11 per cent jump from last year
9,000: the ourteen years after pro$25 – $50: amount a landlord can bump g the who moved here durin fessional opera singer x up monthly rent by installing a dishwasher lifa Ha , making mic de pan and housing advocate city ing row t-g Canada’s fastes Heather Pawsey coined y rate for the term “renoviction” in Van1: the current vacanc ntage, rce pe a as couver, the craze seems all the ts en apartm are rage in Halifax. meaning 99 per cent hit in A portmanteau of “renovaHouston added some protections occupied, a level first tightest the and 21 tion” and “eviction,” the practice for renters, such as requirements October 20 involves ejecting a tenant to do renfor a three-month notice, mutual availability on record ovations, with the upgrades enabling agreements in writing, and comthe landlord to hike the rent. Renovicpensation. But, with few affordable tions are sometimes legit (apartments rentals available and an overheated home-buying mardo need upgrades over time), but the situation often ket, renovictions, both legal and not, remain a problem. leaves people ripe for exploitation. Some landlords argue a ban on renovictions could “There are a variety of ways in which landlords lead to subpar and even unsafe housing. The problem pressure tenants to vacate in order to recapitalize or now, however, is that rents on many renovated apartredevelop a property,” says local housing expert Neil ments are skyrocketing beyond the reach of many Lovitt of Turner & Drake Partners. “It can include filing tenants, even those making more than a living wage. legitimate applications to the tenancies board, frauduAn increasing number of renovictions are “demovlent applications — such as an eviction due to a ‘family ictions,” when tenants are evicted so a landlord can member’ needing to move into the unit, which never demolish a building. The new apartments going up comes to pass after the tenant leaves — and a variety of on the properties take time and charge substantially more underhanded pressure tactics.” higher rents. Little data is available to show how extensive the Nova Scotia didn’t start tracking renovictions until trend is. the ban was lifted. Around 30 applications have been But it was a problem bad enough for then-premier filed by landlords after they failed to reach an agreement Stephen McNeil to impose a renoviction ban in Novemwith their tenants. Six of them came in anticipation ber 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic raged, the housing of the ban being lifted and 13 are in Halifax Regional market sizzled, and a shortage of affordable housing Municipality. In the early weeks, four hearings sided became a crisis. New Progressive Conservative Premier with tenants and one was in favour of a landlord. The Tim Houston lifted the restriction in March, despite a province tells Unravel Halifax it will no longer provide worsening housing crunch that’s creating the perfect information on hearing outcomes. conditions to turf tenants and jack up rents, in some The obvious solution is more housing, but a sufficases by double or more. cient supply is years away.
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UNRAVEL
JULY / AUGUST 2022
