A lot of people are talking about the housing crisis in HRM right now, which is a great thing! Here are are a couple of policy ideas that I’ve been hearing about and thinking about. What are your ideas? Let’s not let landlords form housing policy.

Regulating AirBnBs! Thankfully this is already in the works. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/halifax-moves-step-closer-to-regulating-airbnbs-1.5745167

Eliminating security deposit theft! Right now, we pay our landlords a deposit (normally half a month’s rent) at the beginning of our tenancy. At the end, they HAVE TO give it back, unless they go through the Residential Tenancies Board. It’s YOUR MONEY, held by landlords...

They’ll often withhold it for stupid reasons. But what if it was held in trust somewhere else? Like with the Residential Tenancies board? What if the default was to get it back, and your landlord had to ACTUALLY file an appeal to get it? That may prevent this common form of theft

Regulating rent increases! We’ve heard the stories of people’s rent increasing by exorbitant amounts, forcing them out of housing. Lots of other jurisdictions have restrictions on how much your landlord can increase your rent each term. There’s no such protection in Nova Scotia.

Now let’s get even more radical: eliminating single-family zoning! Thankfully, the recent allowances for secondary housing on properties (“granny suites,” etc) is a step in the right direction. https://slate.com/business/2019/07/oregon-single-family-zoning-apartments-housing.html

But the fact is, our demographics are changing. An ageing population means people want to downsize. We’re getting married later and having more children. We don’t need the huge houses of the past, because we don’t have huge families. Is our city working for us?

Even more radical idea: At the national level, eliminate the public trading of real estate. REITS are some of the most lucrative investments: Rich capitalists are benefiting from maximizing the profits on housing. This means raising rents and cutting corners on maintenance.

My old landlord, Capreit, had a 60+% operating margin. The more profits they make, the more goes to investors, and the more buildings they buy, giving them more power to set prices in the market. Meanwhile, we’re living in a building where mice eat your food and poop on your bed

OK, I’m no expert. I have a really good housing situation now, but living in Capreit’s building radicalized me. And I just don’t want Capreit and other predatory landlords to be the only ones influencing housing policy. We need policy that works for the people!