Saint John’s affordable housing action plan project is getting a thumbs up from the New Brunswick Coalition for Tenants Rights.
The project, unveiled in mid-August, is designed to address what city staff describes as the “major challenge” of affordable housing.
It comes as New Brunswick recorded the largest year-over-year rent increase in the country amid the pandemic, according to Statistics Canada.
Angus Fletcher, an organizer with the coalition, said while it is still early in the process, it is heartening to see the number of groups involved.
“It’s clear they put together a strong team of people who have a fairly large affordable housing portfolio already and there seems to be pretty heavy involvement from the [Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation] as well,” said Fletcher.
This project involves several affordable housing partners, including the Saint John Land Bank, Saint John Community Loan Fund, Saint John Non-Profit Housing, Human Development Council, Housing Alternatives, and Envision Saint John.
It is designed to identify and address supply and affordability gaps in the city’s housing continuum, which Fletcher said is critical.
“We’ve definitely seen a wide variety of New Brunswickers, especially under COVID, who have had difficulty with housing or have been pushed out of the locations that they were living in,” he said.
Fletcher said it is a bit of a myth that municipalities are limited in what they can do to help address the issue of affordable housing.
“The coalition actually has a municipal housing platform which covers a number of possibilities including inclusive zoning, the establishment of rent banks, and a couple of other solutions,” he said.
“Building affordable housing, be that in a co-op structure or in a public housing structure, is one of those solutions to the problem.”
A housing needs assessment will be conducted over the coming months, which will involve workshops with more than three dozen stakeholders — including the coalition — and a public survey.
The information from the needs assessment will be compiled into an action plan which is due to be released in May 2022.
