A Halifax MLA is calling for better handling of affordable housing in rural Nova Scotia.
Lisa Roberts, MLA for Halifax-Needham and NDP housing spokesperson, spent some time in the South Shore last week to speak with community leaders and groups on affordable housing.
Roberts said the topics seemed to vary on issues faced by different communities, but they all had a common concern.
“There just isn’t a lot of rental housing stock period in those areas,” she said.
“The impression I was left with from my conversations both in Lunenburg and Bridgewater is that there aren’t a lot of resources or even alternatives for affordable rentals.”
She said due to the lack of affordable accommodations, a lot of residents in rural areas are stuck in inadequate housing situations or are left without housing at all.
“I heard that people are actually tenting for portions of the year,” said Roberts.
“In some cases, they would rent what would normally be tourism accommodations in the winter, and then tenting for six month stretches.”
Another common topic was Short Term Rentals and how they will be regulated.
Roberts said the new Tourism Accommodation Registration act that is being introduced is not likely to be very effective.
The new act, if passed, would require short-term accommodations providers to be added to an online registry.
However, it would exempt those who rent in their primary residence from registering.
“It is a mistake to not register all short term rental hosts, even the one’s renting out of their primary residence,” she said.
“We need to gather the data on all of the activity in order to distinguish who is doing it in a commercial, full-time way, and who is just renting a room in their home over the summer.”
Roberts said short term rental issues were much more prevalent in Lunenburg, while Bridgewater conversations more often found their way towards affordable housing availability.
She said more investment needs to be made in non-profit and cooperative living developments, such as the new living development by the Antigonish Affordable housing Society, to help battle housing issues in Rural Nova Scotia.
