By Lyndsay Armstrong
Final week, Service Nova Scotia Minister Colton LeBlanc tabled laws that will lengthen the present 5 per cent cap on lease will increase for an additional two years to the top of 2027. However the province’s efforts received’t assist renters as long as fixed-term leases are allowed, Tim Allenby, co-chair of the Dartmouth chapter of housing advocacy group ACORN, mentioned Monday.
“The lease cap is already not splendid, provided that 5 per cent is above inflation, in order that’s not going to assist the affordability downside. However then you definitely throw on prime of that this gaping canyon of a loophole,” he mentioned about fixed-term leases.
A hard and fast-term lease, in contrast to a periodic lease, doesn’t robotically renew past its set finish date. The provincial lease cap covers periodic leases and conditions wherein a landlord indicators a brand new fixed-term lease with the identical tenant. However there isn’t a rule stopping a landlord from elevating the lease as a lot as they need after the time period of a set lease expires — so long as they lease to somebody new.
These guidelines discourage landlords from re-signing fixed-term leases, and as an alternative incentivizes them to lease to somebody new to allow them to increase the lease past the 5 per cent cap, Allenby mentioned. The federal government’s regulation, meant to guard tenants, really pushes extra individuals towards homelessness as some renters are compelled again into the tight housing market, he added.
“The Nova Scotia authorities might do one thing about this, and as an alternative has chosen to do what’s only a gesture, principally,” Allenby mentioned.
Sydnee Blum, a group authorized employee with Dalhousie Authorized Assist, mentioned it’s unattainable to know precisely what number of fixed-term leases are signed every year — such residential tenancy knowledge is just not tracked. However she mentioned she has motive to consider the vast majority of renters who’ve signed new leases within the final a number of years are on mounted phrases.
“We very hardly ever hear from tenants on periodic leases anymore,” Blum mentioned in an interview Monday, including that the usage of fixed-term leases has “definitely exploded for the reason that begin of COVID.”
Allenby agrees, saying they appear to be the default lease kind amongst individuals who share their experiences with ACORN.
In an emailed assertion Monday, a Service Nova Scotia spokesperson mentioned, “we perceive the housing disaster is creating stress and fear for a lot of Nova Scotians, together with these on fixed-term leases.”
“The province will proceed to observe the rental atmosphere in in the present day’s tight market whereas we work to extend the housing provide,” Geoff Tobin mentioned.
The assertion mentioned that whereas authorities doesn’t like to listen to of circumstances the place fixed-term leases are “being abused,” there are reputable makes use of for them.
Braedon Clark, the Nova Scotia Liberal’s housing critic, mentioned in an interview Monday, “the basic downside is you’ll be able to’t have a lease cap system and fixed-term leases as they exist” as a result of they’ll proceed to be “used as a device to avoid the lease cap.”
“This can be a large downside with the system that authorities has achieved nothing about,” he mentioned, including that a few yr in the past he put ahead laws based mostly on a mannequin utilized in British Columbia that converts fixed-term leases to periodic leases on the finish of their time period, as long as each events agree.
Nova Scotia NDP Chief Claudia Chender referred to as the present lease cap “basically ineffective,” saying it doesn’t assist Nova Scotians combating the excessive price of dwelling. She mentioned in an effort to forestall extra individuals being pushed into homelessness, motion should be taken to shut the “fixed-term lease loophole.”
Chender mentioned that due to fixed-term leases, “persons are within the state of affairs the place they’ve to maneuver yearly, and so they’re being priced out,” which is very hurting younger renters, seniors, and anybody on a fixed-income.
An answer, Chender mentioned, is for the federal government to tie its lease cap guidelines to the housing unit reasonably than to the person renter.
This report by The Canadian Press was first revealed Sept. 9, 2024.
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Final modified: September 9, 2024
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