N.B. government reveals housing strategy, and rent cap isn't part of it

A rent bank and direct financial assistance to tenants are among the initiatives in the province's new housing strategy, but a rent cap is not included.

The N.B. Housing Strategy: Housing for All strategy was released on Thursday in Moncton by Social Development Minister Jill Green.

The strategy "focuses upon preventing residents from becoming unhoused and identifies $500-million over three years in new and previously committed funding by the provincial government," a news release says.

Green said the strategy is part of the government's 10-year plan for affordable housing and is based on input from "a wide range of stakeholders." She said no one had a single solution to the province's problems. 

When asked to clarify what she heard about a rent cap, Green said there has been a lot of discussion around the rent cap from different sectors. She said she recently discussed the issue with housing ministers from other provinces that have rent caps and they have "a myriad of other problems because they have the rent cap in place."

She said while a rent cap is not in the strategy, "that doesn't mean anything is off the table going forward."

Last month, she hosted a one-day housing summit in Saint John to gather ideas.

"We heard about the importance of looking at successful initiatives from other provinces like rent banks, increased funding to non-profit organizations and for more accessible housing, collaboration and co-operation among stakeholders, and about other issues that impact housing development such as labour shortages," said Green.

But tenants' rights groups and opposition MLAs are disappointed that rent caps were not included in the strategy. 

Opposition critic Benoit Bourque said "a rent cap in these current conditions is very important." 

He cited a Statistics Canada report that was released this week that says New Brunswick has the fastest-rising rental costs in the country.

"A rent cap would have been very efficient against these rent increases that we've been seeing over the past six months," said Bourque.    

WATCH | 'Game-changer' strategy sees rental benefit paid to tenants, but no rent cap:

Financial assistance, rent bank in new housing strategy — but no rent cap

1 year ago

Duration 1:13

Social Development Minister Jill Green introduces a long-awaited housing strategy for New Brunswick.

A spokesperson for ACORN New Brunswick, a tenants advocacy group, agrees. 

Darcy Wallace, the group's special adviser for public affairs, said although there were "a lot of positive pieces to what came out today," there was a "key piece" missing. 

He said ACORN will keep pushing until a permanent rent cap is in place for New Brunswick. 

"The rent cap is the solution to deal with the cost of living crisis that so many people are feeling — for housing, for gas and for groceries right now. Almost 40 per cent of New Brunswickers are spending a third of their income on housing. That's an enormous amount of money."

By pumping more money into the housing market without implementing a rent cap, Wallace said, the government is simply increasing the price of rent.  

Green Party MLA Megan Mitton said although there were a number of positives in the announcement, there were also some "gaps." 

"I would have liked to see a rent cap and I would have liked to see a clear pathway for protecting the affordable housing stock that exists in New Brunswick. We've lost thousands of affordable units over the past several years, and we need to stop that from happening.

"Unfortunately, I don't see how that's going to happen."

The 'game-changer'

When she announced the strategy in Moncton on Thursday, Green said the "single-most important thing" in her announcement is a $22-million fund that will provide rental relief to tenants. She said it's a game-changer. 

"This rental benefit goes directly to the tenant, it does not go to the landlord. The tenant's neighbours do not know they're receiving this benefit, and this is to reduce our housing wait list by at least 3,000 immediately," said Green. 

She said the new benefit is "above and beyond all our other rental assistance programs." 

The 29-page strategy is divided into four pillars that are supposed to balance "immediate needs while also laying a strong foundation to meet future needs." They are:

• A healthy and competitive housing market.
• More affordable homes for low-to-mid-income earners.
• A safe home for vulnerable New Brunswickers.
• A strong foundation for the province's housing system.

According to the release, the goal is to:

• Increase housing starts, with a target of 6,000 per year.
• Have no more than 15 per cent of New Brunswick households spend more than 30 per cent of income on shelter costs.
• Create conditions to hold annual rent increases at an average of 2.5 per cent and the percentage change in average home prices to 4.8 per cent.
• Decrease the number of households in need of subsidized housing to 7,500 by 2026 from the current waiting list of more than 11,000.

Rent bank

The rent bank is intended to help renters with upfront costs and those who are falling behind on payments.

The province promised to "invest $3 million over the next two years to support up to 750 renter households annually to avoid eviction or obtain new rental accommodations."

The money will be offered as short-term loans to low-to-mid-income renter households.

Fixing existing subsidized housing

The province will also fix up the existing stock of public and subsidized housing units. It has committed $192 million over the next three years including:

• $55.1 million for non-profits and the private sector to create 420 subsidized units.
• $51.2 million to repair provincially-owned housing.
• $21 million to repair 2,750 non-profit and co-operative housing units.
• $22.3 million for New Brunswickers to undertake major repairs to their own homes (4,000 houses).
• $5.1 million to repair rental units in private-market homes, resulting in an additional 300 safe and affordable units.
• $37.5 million to provide financial assistance to 2,107 eligible low-income working individuals and families (Canada Housing Benefit).