.png){kind=tracking}
Two landlords in the Halifax area say they are also affected by the housing crisis, as they struggle to cover the rising costs of insurance, heating and taxes.
Andrea Belair owns a two-unit property in Dartmouth that she bought in 2011 as an investment. She rents a home for herself in Halifax. She has not raised rent on her units since 2018, and plans to increase it by five per cent next year, following the provincial rent cap.
She said she has never made a profit from renting, and only hopes to gain equity in the house. She said she wants to be a good landlord and offer affordable housing to her tenants, but she does not think rent control is the solution. She said the government should improve the rent subsidy program, which now requires people to spend more than 50 per cent of their income on housing to qualify.
Mike Burgess runs 11 buildings in north-end Dartmouth, with 77 units that are under-market. He said the cost of insurance, heating and taxes has gone up significantly in the past few years, making it hard to keep prices low. He said he is not a not-for-profit, and he needs to make a reasonable return on his investment.
Both landlords are calling for government action to address the housing crisis, which affects both tenants and landlords. They say they are not equipped to absorb the extra costs, and they need more support and incentives to provide affordable housing.
