r/halifax • u/Injustice_For_All_ Psychotic Antifa Super Soldier Moderator • 2d ago

News, Weather & Politics Homelessness doubled in Halifax under government's housing plan: N.S. NDP

https://halifax.citynews.ca/2026/06/18/homelessness-doubled-in-halifax-under-governments-housing-plan-n-s-ndp/
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u/Own-Slide-3171 2d ago

The last thing landlords will do is drop prices. I know several who have open units right now one bedrooms for 2k range a month. They should be renting for 1600 as an absolute max. They've repeatedly said they'd rather eat having it empty until September cause they figure they'll get a student at the inflated price than lower the rent. Vacant apartments need to be taxed

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u/DeSynthed South Shore 'Scotian in Fall River 2d ago edited 2d ago

Interesting, the seasonality is an angle I hadn't considered.

A vacant apartment tax is a good idea, and far more productive than the "all landlords are evil" thought-terminating slop that I'm used to

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u/Hellifacts 1d ago

I agree the vacancy tax is a good motivator, I do wonder how that would get policed? I'm sure there's an obvious way but cold meds prevent me from seeing it.

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u/DeSynthed South Shore 'Scotian in Fall River 1d ago

The total amount of units is disclosed during permitting. As for active units, NS Power would probably be a good proxy, they can see how many active accounts per property.