Still no firm budget for housing corporation, minister says

The Opposition Liberals say they're increasingly concerned about the lack of detailed plans for housing from the Higgs government.

Benoit Bourque said during a committee meeting at the legislature Tuesday that it's "disturbing" that Housing Minister Jill Green is still sorting out exactly how much money the New Brunswick Housing Corporation will have to spend in the coming year. 

The province announced in March that it would turn the N.B. Housing into a Crown corporation and said in its budget it would give it an additional $2 million to help address a housing shortage.

But during a meeting on her budget estimates Tuesday morning, Green said it was too early to map out what kind of money the corporation will have to spend.

"At this point it would be premature to say what the aggregate budget for the New Brunswick Housing Corporation would be," she said.

Green said the corporation is still being set up for its larger mandate, with funds and staff from other government departments being shifted under its umbrella.

"All those decisions are currently being considered and analyzed, right now, and that's why it was complicated to come in here and have this estimates discussion about the housing corporation — because nothing has been completely finalized yet." 

Green has promised a new provincial housing strategy by June and said she hopes a spending estimate will be finalized by then as well.

"To give you a full budget number for the housing corporation before all that work is completed this quarter would be premature. I'm unable to give you that number." 

Bourque said Green's answer was "understandable" given the decision to bolster New Brunswick Housing is a recent one, but "I still find it a bit disturbing" that the provincial budget tabled March 21 didn't have precise dollar figures.

"The budget in itself is a budget exercise." 

Bourque said Finance Minister Ernie Steeves has brushed off accusations that he's been deliberately lowballing tax revenue forecasts and has assured the legislature "that nothing is overexaggerated and nothing is problematic with this budget." 

Green's suggestion she might need to seek additional funding for the New Brunswick Housing Corporation suggests some lines in the budget still aren't final, he said.

"I feel the population could receive a bit more clarity, at least on some of the numbers," he said.

Last year the Department of Social Development had a $120 million budget for housing operations, money now shifted to the corporation.

The government is adding another $2 million for new staff to expand the corporation and $1.5 million for the Residential Tenancies Tribunal, which hears complaints from the public about housing.

It's also giving $800,000 to the Housing Hub, a non-profit organization working on housing options in rural areas.

The Higgs government put a 3.8-per cent cap on rents in 2022 to address unprecedented big increases that many tenants were facing across the province.

But the cap wasn't renewed this year. Instead, increases greater than the rate of inflation have to be spread out over two years — but only if tenants complain to the tribunal.

Bourque again suggested to Green that she pass legislation that would put the onus on landlords to justify any rent increases above a certain threshold.

It's something Green has not ruled out.

"Everything is always on the table, and so that along with all other rent control measures continue to be on the table," she said.

Complaints rising

The tribunal received 58 complaints about rent increases in 2020, 137 in 2021 and 416 in 2022, Green said.

Since her appointment last October, the minister has said several times that she has needed time to understand the housing situation before she could act on it. 

Bourque questioned the logic of that claim Tuesday. 

"I understand the argument, but I also understand that prior to the minister being appointed, there was a housing crisis brewing," he said.

"I'd like to think there was work being done prior to her being there. … The government is not new to the housing crisis." 

Green said during Tuesday's meetings that applications for affordable housing were up 21 per cent in the past fiscal year compared to the year before.

There were 8,975 applications in 2022-23 compared to 7,426 in 2021-22, she said.

The number was 5,533 in 2019-20 and 5,710 in 2020-21. 

Of the 8,975 applications in 2022-23, Green said 30 per cent were from families, 43 per cent were from "non-elderly singles" and 27 per cent were from senior citizens.