The annual CMHC rental housing report just came out, and one of its key numbers, the vacancy rate, will proceed to be tossed around for the next year when folks are talking about the housing crisis. But what does it even mean? And where do we go from here?
First, the TLDR: The overall vacancy rate in Halifax Regional Municipality increased a little bit (because of fewer students and slowing immigration), but prices still increased (because of steady demand, no caps on rental increases (at the time of the research) and not enough new units added to the market).
Here are some of the basics on what we’re actually talking about and why this report isn’t much of a reason to celebrate if you’re a renter.
That's a lot of info, and enough for now. The Coast will keep coming back to this report and the layers of information tucked away in it over the next few weeks as we aim to help renters understand how the situation they’re in got so bad, and makes its humble plea to the decision-makers in this province (the large majority of whom are not renters) to take some extra moments to think about the humans who live in this city that find themselves first, locked into a rent they cannot afford and then, without a home at all.
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