The most affordable housing in this province is the older housing stock we’ve already got.
Our mission is to buy and retain older New Brunswick housing stock and keep it affordable.
STEM THE LOSS OF AFFORDABLE UNITS
By buying existing rental housing stock and keeping rents affordable, we can stem the loss of affordable units while encouraging new builds for higher income tenants
Community Ownership
We are lobbying the provincial government to create an Affordable Housing Retention Fund would offer capital contributions to local, community led non-profits and cooperatives, to help them purchase existing, occupied, purpose-built rental buildings and retain their affordability and long term stability.
Stabilized Rents
Instead of buying rental properties as an investment for profit, the mission of non-profit housing organizations is to keep tenants’ rents at existing levels and support housing security. Consequently, there would be no need for province-wide rent control that might discourage investment in new builds. Developers and investors can continue to build new housing stock for New Brunswickers who can afford higher rents.
$50m Fund for 2000 units
At $250,000 per new unit, a $50m fund would only build 200 new units. But $50m for down payments would allow non-profits to buy 2000 units. Facilitating non-proft acquisitions would maximise the impact of government funding. We cannot build our way out of the affordability issue: it is simply impossible to build enough new affordable units to meet demand.
Common Roots Housing & Development Inc. owns and operates older apartment units in New Brunswick, keeping rents low and meeting the needs of ordinary working New Brunswickers. We are on a mission to buy more older housing stock and keep it affordable, because we believe it is the only way to tackle the current housing crisis in this province.
New Brunswick has seen unprecedented increases in housing insecurity over the last few years, but is simply relying on developers to build ‘affordable’ units alongside market-rent units. Definitions of affordability vary wildly, and the supply of new, actually affordable units is not anywhere close to keeping pace with the rapidly growing demand.
New rental units currently cost around $250k per unit to build. Developers cannot realistically supply new units at ‘affordable’ rents. Renovictions have increased rents of existing units by over 100% in some cases. For many New Brunswickers, there is simply nowhere to turn.
Renters’ associations recommend rent caps, but in a high interest, high inflation environment with rapidly increasing costs such as borrowing costs, property taxes, insurance rates, water rates, electricity rates, and repair costs, this is not a sustainable long term solution for investors or renters.
Investors can still make a profit on new builds with correspondingly high rents; existing naturally affordable units should be in the hands of non-profits that can keep them affordable.
Long Term Consequences
| Not responding to the rapid loss of affordable rental housing will have enormous social and economic ramifications. The increasing loss of affordable rental homes at the pace we are seeing in New Brunswick will lead to more homelessness and housing insecurity. Waiting lists for subsidized housing will continue to grow faster than the Province can supply new units. Furthermore, the loss of homes will negate the impact of the positive investments in housing being made by government today. Now is the time to restructure these fundamentals of our housing system to ensure that everyone has access to long term affordable housing. |
“Non-profit housing corporations must buy and retain older housing stock and keep it affordable. It is the most cost effective and efficient way to provide affordable housing to New Brunswickers. These corporations just need the down payments – a fraction of the cost of newly built units.”
Mat Rouleau – CEO