Halifax Tenants Face ‘Renoviction’ Days After Provincial Ban Is Lifted
HALIFAX- WITH A NEW LEGISLATIVE SESSION IN NOVA SCOTIA ON MARCH 24, THE SEEMINGLY NEVER-ENDING ISSUE OF HOUSING IS AT THE FRONT OF CLAUDIA CHENDER’S MIND.
Two days before the session opened, the Dartmouth South MLA (and NDP House leader) was contacted by nine people facing so-called “renovictions” in her district. Eight of the nine people live in two buildings owned by the same landlord.
“There are two multi-unit buildings, which sold sometime in the last six months,” Chender said in an interview with Huddle. “All of the tenants were told the day after the state of emergency lifted that they needed to be out by June.”
“In at least two cases we know that there were seniors living there for 35 years.”
These renoviction notices do not come as a surprise. Throughout the pandemic, there was a province-wide ban on the practice of evicting tenants to renovate a unit. But the provincial government maintained that the ban would lift when the Covid-19-related state of emergency ended, which it did on March 21.
Chender believes certain landlords were waiting for the ban to lift to give out eviction notices.
“Absolutely, without a doubt. It strains common sense to think this is a coincidence,” says Chender. “We legally had this ban in place for some time and the day after it comes up the new owner of two multi-unit buildings tell tenants they’re out.”
In October, the province passed new rights for tenants who faced renovictions, including a three-month notice period, and one-to-three months’ worth of rent as compensation. But Chender argues that is not much of a consolation for people without a home.
“Not only does that not give someone a place to live, but many people don’t avail themselves of that, because they’re aware of their rights.”
“It’s deeply concerning. The units were affordable; there is no (more) affordable housing in Dartmouth South at the moment, nor is there much of it across the HRM at all.”
Chender isn’t without some sympathy for the challenges faced by landlords. She said she understands the difficulty smaller property owners are going through right now, with the cost of living, and doing business, sky-rocketing.
“The cost of living has risen exponentially, and that’s for everyone across the board,” said Chender. “We’ve heard from many landlords, particularly smaller landlords that the cost of insurance is skyrocketing, and the cost of maintenance is going up.”
“No doubt, that puts pressure on landlords. But our caucus-and I think everyone should-regard the provision of housing to be a human right.”
“People having a house trumps people’s ability to profit from providing a house.”
Chender believes a long-term solution is more affordable housing that will not be hampered by the marketplace. She says truly affordable housing should be tied to people’s incomes, not what the value places on it by the housing market.
Huddle reached out to Service Nova Scotia Minister Colton Leblanc for comment but didn’t receive a response before publication.