‘Demoralizing’: Rent cap rises to 5% in N.S., putting tenants under further strain

globalnews.ca:

It’s a new year, and there’s a new rent cap in Nova Scotia.

As of Jan. 1, the province raised allowable rent increases to five per cent, up from the two per cent cap that has been in place since 2020.

Jonethan Brigley, who lives in a multi-unit apartment building in Dartmouth, said he and his neighbours woke up to an unwelcome surprise on New Year’s Day: notice of a five-per-cent increase coming in June.

“It kind of soured my mood for the rest of the day,” he said. “It was very demoralizing.”

Brigley is fortunate that his rent is well under market, but the new change will still be a struggle. He has a full-time minimum-wage job and finds it difficult to keep up with the “ever-growing cost of groceries” and other essentials.

“It is doable, but it’s tightening a belt that is already pretty tight as it is,” he said. “I spoke to other people in my building and they’re already at a wit’s end.”

The biggest issue, he said, is his building has “a severe lack of maintenance,” with the property having changed hands between several landlords over the 13 years he’s lived there.

“If they were showing more effort of what they were doing, I would understand, to an extent,” he said.

The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Halifax was $1,917 per month as of December, according to a report from Rentals.ca. With the new change, what would have been an increase to $1,955 has now jumped to $2,012.

“How do you expect people working at the current minimum wage to keep up with that?” Brigley said. “Never mind the ample (amount of) people that are on fixed income, social assistance.”

The rent cap change puts renters in a tough position, said Sue LaPierre, the director of social impact strategy at United Way Halifax.

“It’s going to make a