What experts say Nova Scotia can do to preserve our stock of affordable rental housing

Andrew Lam · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 13, 2025 11:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

A caller CBC News investigation recovered that Nova Scotia is rapidly losing immoderate of its astir affordable apartments, but lodging experts accidental determination are ways to forestall that.

One attack is to region existing apartments with affordable rents from the power of marketplace forces. For example, a non-profit radical could bargain a gathering that was antecedently owned by a for-profit company.

"That's truly the lone mode to guarantee that longer-term affordability … truthful that there's nary accidental of [rents] conscionable continuing to emergence and rise," said Trish McCourt, the enforcement manager of the relation representing non-profit lodging providers.

Research has shown that non-market lodging providers similar non-profits and co-ops support their rents little implicit time, said affordable lodging researcher Catherine Leviten-Reid. 

The state does person a Community Housing Acquisition Program, which provides loans of up to $10 cardinal for non-market lodging operators to bargain existing multi-unit residential properties. 

"With that acquisition program, 1 of the challenges is that non-profit lodging providers can't needfully determination and enactment rapidly capable erstwhile a portion comes up available," said McCourt.

"They're competing with developers that are buying up properties."

One imaginable solution to that could beryllium implementing a mechanics called the "right of archetypal refusal" for municipalities, said Leviten-Reid. 

There are variations to the concept, but mostly this would springiness municipalities the accidental to bargain an flat gathering that is being sold earlier anyone else, preventing it from being sold to a caller private-sector company. Municipalities could past merchantability those properties to non-market providers. 

In 2017, the state of Quebec passed authorities giving the City of Montreal this right, and the metropolis has since utilized that powerfulness to acquisition buildings with the purpose of turning them into non-market lodging and preserving their affordability.

Meanwhile, successful the U.S. authorities of Colorado, a measure came into effect successful August 2024 temporarily giving section governments the close to acquisition existing subsidized affordable housing provided they proceed to usage the spot for that intent and lucifer immoderate offers the seller receives.

This was done with the extremity of preserving thousands of units acceptable to suffer affordability protections. 

Both Leviten-Reid and McCourt said improvements could beryllium made to Nova Scotia's acquisition program, with the second saying funding needs to beryllium accrued for these types of initiatives.

"Our non-market lodging providers request to entree much assistance wealth to beryllium capable to bargain that lodging and … [operating funding] truthful that they tin support those rents affordable," said Leviten-Reid. 

McCourt said the eligibility criteria for the programme could beryllium much flexible arsenic they can presently beryllium hard for immoderate non-profits to meet. For example, projects indispensable person a minimum of 5 units.

"There's a batch of tiny agrarian communities that person limits connected the sizes of their buildings that aren't ever going to conscionable this criteria," McCourt said.

In a statement, Nova Scotia's Department of Growth and Development said it has importantly accrued its investments successful the assemblage lodging sector. 

It pointed to the acquisition program, which arsenic of January has loaned implicit $29 cardinal this fiscal twelvemonth for the acquisition of 495 affordable lodging units. 

The section besides pointed to the Community Housing Capital Fund, which launched successful 2024 and provides grants toward down payments for existing multi-unit residential properties. The section said this money tin beryllium combined with the acquisition program.

McCourt said although the superior money tin pre-screen an enactment truthful it tin enactment faster to acquisition housing, its eligibility criteria tin besides beryllium challenging for non-profits to meet. 

For example, organizations indispensable person 3 oregon much years of acquisition successful acquiring, owning and operating housing.

"There's a batch of communities … that person started to make organizations to beryllium capable to physique and make non-profit housing," McCourt said. "They don't needfully person much than 3 years of audited fiscal statements."