Affordable housing expert calls for 'massive investment' in public housing in CBRM

According to a Nova Scotia housing needs assessment, Cape Breton Regional Municipality is short 1,000 units right now and that number could more than double in a decade, if the pace of development does not increase soon.

A lack of affordable rental units has been known for several years, especially since a major influx of international students arrived at Cape Breton University starting in 2018, but the report also highlights the increasing difficulty of home ownership in CBRM. 

"About 50 per cent of all the households who live here would not be able to find an affordable home based on median home sale prices from 2022, so we clearly have an affordability problem," said Catherine Leviten-Reid, a professor in community economic development at CBU who studies housing issues.

The report found that 28 per cent of all couples, 62 per cent of single-parent households and 87 per cent of single-person households did not have enough income to afford the median price of a house, which grew 63 per cent between 2016 and 2022 to $195,000.

According to the report, an income of $65,200 would be needed to be able to afford the median home price.

In terms of the rental market, it also found that at least 23 per cent of couples, 46 per cent of single-parents and 83 per cent of single people could not afford the median rent of $800.

The housing stock is also in tight supply, with a vacancy rate of 1.7 per cent, which is below the three-to-five per cent range considered to be healthy.

Leviten-Reid said it was disappointing that the report did not make recommendations on the types of housing units needed to fill the gaps over the next 10 years.

"That kind of breakdown wasn't provided in the report, but for me after reading it, it was clear that what we need the most in this municipality is affordable housing," she said.

The report also found that the existing housing stock is in major need of repairs and its availability is shrinking with the growth of short-term rentals.

Leviten-Reid said the municipality should consider putting limits on short-term rentals.

"Every year we've seen an increase in short-term rentals, which is problematic as far as I'm concerned, because every year we're losing some housing stock for that purpose and then that's not a negligible amount."

According to CBRM's report, about 125 new housing units are created in the municipality every year and at that rate, the gap could grow to more than 2,100 by 2032.

'Massive investment' needed

The Nova Scotia government recently provided each of the province's 49 municipalities with an assessment, quantifying a gap of housing units totalling in the thousands. 

The province also recently announced the creation of 222 new units, but Leviten-Reid said unless development ramps up quickly, the affordable housing problem in CBRM is going to get worse.

"That sounds like to me the loss of some stock while we're introducing new public housing as well, so we need a massive investment in public housing stock in this municipality," she said.

Mayor Amanda McDougall said municipalities are not responsible for building housing, but they have a role to play in providing the infrastructure and planning to make it available to all.

Earlier this year, CBRM council  was forced to get involved in housing after New Dawn and the Ally Centre applied for federal rapid housing funds to use in Sydney.

But McDougall said public housing is the responsibility of other levels of government and CBRM cannot afford to fund construction of housing, especially after a new memorandum of understanding with the province will result in decreased funding to CBRM over time.

"I need only look to our budgets. I need only look to the new MOU that exists between the province and municipal governments," McDougall said.

"There's absolutely no way that we can take on the responsibility of the province and even more so in building units that they are responsible for."

However, the latest housing assessment provides a stark reminder about the urgency of taking action sooner rather than later, she said.

"We need to move as fast as we can, because as we're seeing across the country, the more time that goes by, the more people that are vulnerable and people will die if they are left outside without homes," McDougall said.

Unfair to blame students

McDougall and Leviten-Reid said while the report correctly points out the added pressure on housing created by the influx of thousands of international students at CBU, they also said it would be unfair to blame them for what has been a longstanding crisis in housing.

Both said it's time the provincial government invested in public housing, something it hasn't done for decades.

Housing Minister John Lohr recently released a strategy with at least $1 billion in provincial government spending that will create conditions to build at least 41,200 housing units, but critics said the plan lacks details.

Meanwhile, McDougall said a CBRM task force on affordable housing, one of three task forces struck under council's strategic plan, is expected to report to council in January.

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