According to a new rental report from Zumper, Halifax is amongst the most expensive cities to live in across all of Canada.
Halifax ranked fifth amongst all Canadian cities when it came to the median rent of one and two bedroom units according to new data from Zumper, who aggregates data from rental listings across the city. Above Halifax are Vancouver and Burnaby in British Columbia, and Toronto and Kingston in Ontario. Falling closely behind Halifax is Ottawa.
Data shows Halifax’s one-bedroom units are rented at a median asking rent of $2,100, a 2.40 percent year-over-year increase. Two-bedroom units have a median asking rent of $2,500, a 1.20 percent year-over-year decrease.
Nationally, rent prices have been slowly decreasing over the last 14 months, and while Halifax has seen it’s prices swing both ways depending on the unit type, it did shift down one rank from last year’s report, which had Halifax sitting at fourth place amongst Canada’s most expensive cities.
“This year’s declines are layered on top of a longer-term cooling cycle driven by rising supply, shifting population flows, and economic uncertainty that is muting general renter demand,” reads the report, written by housing expert Crystal Chen.
How does Nova Scotia become affordable?
These numbers from Zumper coincide with reports from Statistics Canada, which The Coast reported on here. The general theme is that while there is a national housing cool-down with steady decreases, rent is still at an unaffordable rate for many individuals and families living within Halifax.
In a press release from Dalhousie Legal Aid, experts on Nova Scotia’s continuing housing crisis, there are several legislative and administrative factors leading to higher rents and housing instability.
First and foremost is tenant turnover. Dal Legal Aid, referencing the Canada Mortgage and Housing Association’s latest report, says tenant turnover is leading to higher rents in the city. New tenants saw a 23 percent increase on rental units, while existing tenants saw a 4 percent increase, just below the 5 percent province-wide annual rent cap. Landlords have an incentive to increase turnover to increase rent and bypass this cap. This is often done through fixed-term leases, which allow landlords to not renew leases on their expiration date. While there have been calls on the provincial government to fix this loophole, it has not budged on the issue.
Dal Legal Aid also notes the rent cap as one of the highest in the country, and when partnered with Nova Scotia’s low average income, even raising rent within the cap can become unaffordable for renters. Landlords have been consistently pushing the full allowable increase every year, and have been steadily increasing prices for renters year-over-year in the process.
Lastly, Dal Legal Aid takes aim at the province’s method of building it’s way out of the housing crisis. It finds most of the new builds that are ready unaffordable for most renters, while rent on existing builds continue to price out low-income individuals and families. It’s also worth noting these builds are often a decade or more away from being completed, adding no value in dealing with the housing crisis until completion.
In its release, Dal Legal Aid calls on the provincial government to take action: close the fixed-term lease loophole, enact evidence-based rent caps, ensure new builds consist of affordable units, and introducing policy to help slow tenant turnover.