Airbnb’s refusal to share data on the number of multi-unit hosts who use its platform is a concern for traditional accommodation industries. Last year, the Hotel Association of Canada commissioned CBRE to complete a nationwide report measuring the impact of Airbnb accommodation-sharing on the hotel and housing markets. Across Canada, the report showed 83 per- […]
Housing
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New data suggests Airbnb’s impact on Halifax’s rental climate
Airbnb likes to position its hosts as everyday people offering up their homes for a little cash when they take a vacation or leave on a work trip. But new data assembled for The Coast shows the exact opposite. Over half of the Airbnb listings in the urban core seemingly belong to property owners with […]
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Bilby Street’s unaffordable future
When Jennifer Beamer moved to Bilby Street in 2003 it didn’t really feel like a neighbourhood. “Frankly, it was a neighbourhood I could afford to buy a house in,” she says. But even in 2003, the short stretch of single-family homes was changing. Over the years the surrounding area has developed into the trendy north-end […]
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Halifax tackles funding options for $200-million CFL stadium
Maritime Football Limited wants to buy 20 acres of land at Shannon Park for a $200-million football stadium—but first the province and the municipality have to agree to help pay for it. A staff report on the much-anticipated stadium proposal coming to city council on Tuesday recommends that HRM completes a “thorough business case analysis” […]
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UPDATE: No affordable housing for new Cogswell district?
Halifax spokesperson Nick Ritcey responds to this article in an email to The Coast, saying the final decision on affordable housing has not yet been made: “The implication that affordable housing will not be included within the Cogswell district is incorrect. Decisions about affordable housing in this area have not been made. “In July, Regional […]
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Tenants organize against Park Victoria’s pest problem
Tenants at Park Victoria are fed up with broken promises to resolve an infestation of pests including ants, cockroaches and bed bugs throughout the south end apartment building Y. Park, a long-time tenant at 1333 South Park Street, has been living with the problem for weeks inside his apartment. But he’s not alone. “There are […]
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Risk of collapse for student decks
Thomas Baker was on his way home from a party with a friend when he heard a crash. “I saw [the deck] when I arrived and thought it looked sketchy. It didn’t look good, so I hadn’t gone on it. When I heard the crash I instantly thought that it had fallen,” says Baker. It […]
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Affordable housing musical chairs
Within a two-block radius of my home in the north end of Halifax, there are six condo buildings in various stages of development. This, of course, doesn’t include the four adjacent lots at the end of my street that are being sold as a package for its tear-down value of $2 million. Who gains and […]
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Province passes on Bloomfield Centre
For the second time, the province of Nova Scotia won’t be buying Halifax’s Bloomfield Centre. The deteriorating former school and community centre is once again facing an uncertain future according to an update heading to Regional Council on Tuesday. Council voted last August to sell a portion of the 3.3-acre site to the provincial government […]
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Falling through the tenancy cracks
International students in Halifax say they’re being taken advantage of by one of the city’s largest property rental companies, which seemingly as official policy uses leases in breach of the Tenancy Act for non-Canadian tenants. Jianing Xu says she was asked by Killam Properties to pay rent for her Cathedral Lane apartment in three-month increments. […]
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No political will to fix Nova Scotia’s inadequate tenancy laws
[IMAGE-1] When Melanie Quigg moved out of the house she had rented in Bedford last June, her rent was paid up and—after a thorough cleaning by her and her father—the place was spotless. She expected the return of her $650 security deposit 10 days after the end of the month, as specified in Nova Scotia’s […]
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Halifax’s housing costs remain (relatively) affordable
[Image-1] In today’s age of inflated housing prices and looming bubbles, shadow selling, house flipping and trading, the real estate supply in Canada is beginning to look and act a whole lot more like precious metals than necessary dwellings for you and your family. “Parts of the HRM are certainly still affordable with an average […]