CBC Radio | Posted: April 16, 2022 8:00 AM | Last Updated: April 16, 2022
Here is what's on this week's episode of The House
Image | Halifax Skyline Summertime Construction
Caption: Halifax has become the centre of a housing affordability crisis in much of Atlantic Canada. (Robert Short/CBC)
Media Audio | CBC News: The House : House hunters
Caption: On this week’s show: The House is in Halifax to dig into the issue of housing affordability, which is reaching crisis levels in the Nova Scotia capital. People from every side of the issue — buyers, realtors, builders — talk about their concerns with the red-hot market. Plus — provincial Housing Minister John Lohr, NS NDP housing critic Suzy Hansen and federal Housing Minister Ahmed Hussen each discuss how they think politicians can help.
One couple who is searching for a house of their own is having little luck in a red-hot Halifax housing market, an example of the nationwide affordability crisis. They've been to hundreds of viewings, only to be outbid again and again.
In a special episode from Halifax, these househunters tell The House about their experience trying to break down the barriers to home ownership. Realtors Angela Cowan and Bruce Patterson discuss what the industry looks like from their perspective. In one word: "unsustainable."
Media Audio | CBC News: The House : White-picket-fenced out of home ownership
Caption: In a special episode from Halifax, The House hears from homeowners and realtors about the challenge they face in navigating a tight housing market, and the problems with unaffordability.
Halifax is at the centre of an affordability crisis in Atlantic Canada, with typical prices for single-family homes rising by 33.5 per cent from February 2021 to February 2021, according to statistics from the Canadian Real Estate Association.
How did this housing crisis, paired with one of the lowest vacancy rates in the country, come to be? Housing policy expert Ren Thomas of Dalhousie University weighs in, as well as Nova Scotia Housing Minister John Lohr. Federal Housing Minister Ahmed Hussen also describes how he thinks the federal government can help. Plus, a homebuilder talks about the challenges companies like his face in actually building more housing supply.
Media Audio | CBC News: The House : The broken system and how to fix it
Caption: Housing policy expert Ren Thomas of Dalhousie University discusses how housing became so unaffordable. Nova Scotia Housing Minister John Lohr and federal Housing Minister Ahmed Hussen detail how their governments are responding. Plus, a homebuilder talks about the challenges companies like his face in actually building more housing supply.
For much of the pandemic, Nova Scotia placed a ban on the practice of "renoviction" — where landlords evict clients in order to undertake renovations, allowing them to raise rents and remove long-standing tenants. But, as Adele Martell describes, as soon as the ban ended, she and her two sons once again faced the threat of being forced from their rental home.
Martell tells The House about her experience, and provincial NDP MLA and housing critic Suzy Hansen discusses how her party proposes to solve the problem of unaffordable housing.
Media Audio | CBC News: The House : The spectre of ‘renoviction’
Caption: After a ban on “renovictions” expired in Nova Scotia, some, including Adele Martell, faced the prospect of being forced from their rental homes. She shares her story, and Nova Scotia NDP MLA and housing critic Suzy Hansen discusses her party’s approach to the housing crisis.