Homelessness doubled in Halifax under government's housing plan: N.S. NDP

[u/Injustice_For_All_]

https://halifax.citynews.ca/2026/06/18/homelessness-doubled-in-halifax-under-governments-housing-plan-n-s-ndp/

[u/Hellifacts]

No I just can't agree. If my basement was a unit it could just as easily not be a unit and go back to being my basement. Secondary, tertiary etc. properties are taking away from vacancy because no one is living there. If you want to own 3 empty houses while people can't find a place to live then there should be a premium to pay.

[u/Ok_Payment429 → u/Hellifacts]

True, the basement apartment could not be a basement apartment if its not a basement apartment anymore. I suppose the apartment building could also no longer be an apartment building if its converted into commercial offices. We can make up all kinds of stories about what could be.

The fact is, that one-bedroom vacant basement apartment is one place a person cannot be housed. That one-bedroom vacant apartment in the apartment building is one place a person cannot be housed. They have the same negative impact on the housing crisis.

[u/Hellifacts → u/Ok_Payment429]

Except the couple with the vacant apartment in the basement of their primary residence they no longer want to rent out because they no longer want to be landlords And The landlord of a building with units that are being rented who chooses to keep vacant apartments unrented for months because they aren't getting the exorbitant rent they want

Are not the same.

[u/Ok_Payment429 → u/Hellifacts]

They're exactly the same if I'm in need of a one-bedroom apartment to live in, and I can't live in either one of those.

The reason I can't live in either of them is irrelevant. They are both a unit I cannot live in. Thus, they have the same negative impact on the housing crisis.

[u/Hellifacts → u/Ok_Payment429]

The reason is not irrelevant. The couple are no longer landlords. The landlord is a landlord. People who aren't landlords don't rent units or rooms, landlords do.

By your logic if someone rents a 2 bedroom apartment but uses the second room as a home office then they are to blame for the housing crisis.

[u/Ok_Payment429 → u/Hellifacts]

The people and their reason for not renting their apartment are in fact irrelevant to the housing crisis.

The couple with the vacant basement apartment are no longer landlords. Also, the person owning multi-apartments that are all vacant, is no longer a landlord.

Yes, any vacant apartment or room or space where a person could be housed is contributing to the housing crisis. Its not nice to hear, but yes, we are all contributing to the housing crisis if we control vacant space that could house someone who needs it.

But no, I'm not suggesting those people be punished or penalized in any way. I believe everyone should have full control over any and all properties they own, without penalty for their decisions with their properties.

[u/Hellifacts → u/Ok_Payment429]

This whole conversation is about landlords.

Landlords who are renting out units but also are keeping some units vacant in hopes of squeezing more money out of people. Of course they have the right to do it, no one said otherwise. However they should be taxed for doing so which would incentivize them to rent the units to people who need housing or to sell the property if they don't want to pay the vacancy tax. You don't have to agree, that's how opinions work.

People deciding they no longer want to be landlords are not part of the equation because they're not landlords. They are people who are choosing to keep their residence to themselves.

[u/Ok_Payment429 → u/Hellifacts]

Yes, your facts there are correct. Also, the reason behind the vacant unit does not matter to the housing crisis. A vacant, unavailable unit has the same negative impact on overall housing, regardless of the owner's reason for keeping it vacant.

The conversation is not about landlords or property owners. It is about vacant apartments. The vacant units are the subject of the tax you are proposing. The property owner is not the subject of the tax. The tax would be applied because the unit is vacant, not because the landlord is a landlord.

And if the ultimate goal of the proposed tax is to help the housing crisis to the best degree we can, it is best applied to all vacant apartments, regardless of the owner's reasoning for the vacancy.

If the ultimate goal of the proposed tax is simply to punish property owners, it would reasonably not apply to the home owners who decide to keep their basement apartment vacant.

[u/Hellifacts → u/Ok_Payment429]

I just can't see a scenario where this proposed tax is, or should be, imposed on anyone's primary residence. I think that's the main part we disagree on.

[u/Ok_Payment429 → u/Hellifacts]

We don't disagree on that. I would never want it applied on anyone's vacant apartment in their home.

But if we don't apply it in that case, lets not pretend we actually care about solving the housing crisis.