New Brunswick Housing Minister David Hickey addressing Saturday’s public session
New Brunswick’s Housing Minister says one of his main jobs in the coming year will be to make sure tenants know their rights under the 3% annual rent cap legislation that takes effect on February 1st.
“Landlords are already sending out notices of rents higher than 3%,” David Hickey told an audience of about 100 at Tantramar Town Hall on Saturday during a public session of the Mayor’s Roundtable on Housing.
“Tenants don’t know their rights.”
Hickey returned to that theme later during an interview with reporters.
“We’re going to put the necessary protections in place for tenants in this province to make sure that they know their rights, that they have strong rights to be able to stand up for themselves, while making sure that we are creating a competitive development landscape both for developers and operators of market units,” he said.
“I think the big theme, that I really want to push on this stuff is, it’s about balance,” he added.
Hickey explained that’s partly why the new Liberal government did not heed the advice of tenant advocacy groups that called for the rent cap to be tied to the rental unit and not the tenant so that landlords couldn’t raise rents by more than the cap when tenants move out.
During legislative committee meetings last month, representatives of the NB Coalition for Tenants Rights and New Brunswick Acorn said tying the rent cap to tenants gives landlords an incentive to get them out in order to raise rents by more than 3%.
The groups said landlords do this by offering fixed-term leases that do not automatically renew, by evicting tenants for unnecessary renovations or by claiming they need the unit for themselves or a relative.
But Hickey says the government doesn’t have the information it would need to tie the rent cap to each unit.
“There’s about 40,000 renters in the province of New Brunswick. We don’t know what their rents are. We have no idea,” he says.
Rent registry
Hickey added that his department is in the process of setting up a rent registry that should be in full operation by the spring of 2026.
In the meantime, he says he’s trying to encourage developers to increase the supply of rental housing so that the present vacancy rate of about 1% increases to a 3% rate to promote competition that would result in lower, more affordable rents.
Hickey points, for example, to the government’s removal of the 10% provincial sales tax on the construction of multi-unit buildings as one way of increasing supply.
He suggests that tying rents to units could discourage developers from building new ones, so it’s important to gather more registry data to determine vacancy rates and to conduct an annual review of the rent cap to determine how it’s affecting the supply of rental housing.
Hickey also says the Higgs government approved additional staff jobs at the Tenant and Landlord Relations Office (TLRO), the new name for the old Residential Tenancies Tribunal that was set up to resolve disputes between landlords and tenants.
“We’ve got 30 approved positions…that are still vacant,” he adds, but suggests the new government needs to set up an internal human resources department to help with hiring.
“One of the biggest things that landlords ask for us in response to the TLRO is timeliness. It’s timeliness and response. Having more staff capacity is a really important part of that,” he says.
MLA Mitton disagrees
Tantramar MLA Megan Mitton addressing Saturday’s public session on housing
Tantramar MLA Megan Mitton, who also attended Saturday’s public session on housing, says she disagrees that a rent registry is needed before the 3% rent cap can be tied to housing units and not individual tenants.
“There does need to be a registry and I’m extremely frustrated that there isn’t one yet,” she told Warktimes. “I’ve been calling for a registry for years.”
Mitton said she has spoken to housing experts who say they would adopt a strong rent cap, then build the rent registry.
“My problem is that without tying the cap to each unit, it creates loopholes that leave tenants without the protections they need,” she says.
“I did ask the minister in the legislature would he commit to tying the rent to the unit. He wouldn’t give an affirmative answer in the legislature, but I’m going to keep asking and keep pushing for it,” she adds.
Just wondering how far the money would go for the 30 newly approved government positions if it was used towards directly helping provide housing for those currently in need.
If the positions are about $50k/yr, that’s 1.5 million. That’s approximately the tax break Tantramar is giving to the Laffords for their new building over the next decade. But that money is going to help the landlord, not the tenants.
it is interesting that they cap the rental rate increase at 3% but the province can raise property taxes by 10% shouldn’t they both be the same?
When “property taxes” are raised by 10% due to a 10% increase in the assessed value of the property, the property’s net worth has increased by 10%, and thus the property owner’s net worth has increased by the dollar amount nearly equal to the 10% increase.
For example, in 2024, Saint John residential properties had a provincial tax rate of 1.5800%.* If a rental property’s value increased by 10% from $200k to $220k, the increase in the annual property tax amount increased from $3,160 to $3,476. Thus, the owner has earned $19,684 ($20,000 – $316). If the rental property has four units (each with rent at $800/mo) in which rents increase by 3%, the property owner further increases their revenue from the property by $1152 ($24/mo/unit x 12 mo x 4 units).
The NB property tax rate is now stable after decreasing gradually over three years by 50%! Any major percentage increase in property tax paid by a landlord reflects a MAJOR increase in the landlord’s net worth. The increase in the property tax amount, at a mere 1.58% of the property’s increase in value, is trivial. Landlords who whine about an increase in their property tax bill, and argue that this trivial increase requires them to raise rents, are so greed-infested that they are willing to expose how shamefully devoid of basic respect they are for the basic needs of others.
*2024 Approved Residential Tax Rates and Non-residential Tax Ratios (gnb.ca)
Valid observation. Amalgamation is a Greek Tragedy in the making. Why? Federal and Provincial Governments were invited to a National Municipality conference in 1966-67. From B C. to Nova Scotia, Tantramar now exhibits literally overnight too many petty regulations (height of grass) and ballooning taxes just to feed the bureaucracy ( propagandist) in town hall. Economists know that ( one councillor costs as much as the whole Dorchester council before January 1st, 2023. Not sustainable.
Where property taxes are lower revenue increases. The coming recession and tariffs will make it a impossible complex situation.. The government plan is already hopelessly Outdated. Complex issues require real councillors with real files to tackle issues..
A CAO with no executive limitations that are enforceable have run communities into the ground.. [ the many failures of policy governance].
If you don’t trust the Internet, please go to the local libraries and look it up.
Thomas Sowell an American economist identified a Paradox in the flow of money. There seemed to always lots of money for more bureaucrats, but never enough to provide the Doctors and nurses and other staff to actually make a difference. Education is also an example of this paradox .Anglephone East District Education council minutes 2015 , show that 25 more office stvaff was hired to supposedly direct resources to teachers. The same year teachers were being layed off.
Tantranar Town office staff exploion on day one was identified in 1996 as the unintended consequences of amalgation and why it was bad.. Each councilor with no file or reponsibility brings home more cash than the whole former Council of Dorchester including the Mayor until January 1 2023. Offices look very busy but very little actually marches any where then on paper.
It is the story of N B. Victory for the Liberals pandering to the stupidity pandemic,but the cost was easily a million. The Education department didn’t protect the students while Iwas on the board and spent $148 000 to make sure that parents the first educators were blocked from Ombudsperson.
A Depression is coming so WE need serious down and out debate onHousing . How many rooms in your home are you willing to set aside for the homeless. During the Second World War there three families in my former residence Arrived in Dorchester 1966 as part of recruitment to meet the baby boom. Three teachers and a family of four in one house. Tantramar and Canada are broke or worse. Defund the Town office and departments now.. Citizens in wards need to pressure the Council to demand a file and reponsible participation. That will sent a message that there is no way we have to listen about the death of Demoracy in USA because Trump a symptom of dumping citizens for the elite .
Boot ” policy goverance” out and return your Council to the front bench.
I know! The guy that came up with this new system is a clinical psychologist but in a creises it doesn’t work and runs communities into the ground and worse defunds key services and breaks the Town. Thirty year’s of knowing this in New Brunswick is crazy to continue with a vad strategy..
I enjoyed watching the consensus building session and sampling snacks… it was worth my time to take in the shenanigans and connect with others around here in real life.
As I was unable to address the crowd when I approached the microphone in my “Advocate” cap and stood next to Andrew Black, I can only tell you this much – his attempt to control the narrative by not allowing me to speak to his crowd and manage the narrative at a so-called information seeking public session is weak behaviour. CAO Jennifer Borne was gracious and went to bring me a glass of water when I arrived with my big #BringBackBeauty signage. As a long time resident who does have a “stakeholder” interest here I am always baffled that Julia Feltham pops up to make sure we all know she is on the job in her capacity as “facilitator” – in this case a two day session – but do we know how she is compensated for her time and energy? By the town? By an outside agency? Who? As well.. is it possible that the man who spoke out about his inability to get an apartment project built here [RBDobsonHomes] is indicative of a more common complaint indicating a culture of interference with private property owners and their developments? Discuss amongst yourselves. What about a little transparency Andrew Black — whatever you all were up to on Day 1 when various “stakeholders” gathered behind closed doors, their discussions must have been worth listening to…too bad we were not invited in.
Wayne – ” From B C. to Nova Scotia, Tantramar now exhibits literally overnight too many petty regulations (height of grass) and ballooning taxes just to feed the bureaucracy ( propagandist) in town hall. ”
Kind’a reminds me of HOA’s in the States. Maybe that’s what Tantramar is now, just one big HOA?
A Homeowners Association… says Elaine? Is that something that some folks would be wise to advocate for now? Are you a homeowner? Do you feel represented?
Wow…
You totally missed the point.
I am a homeowner and I’d rather Tantramar NOT be an HOA or anything like it, thanks. Saying that rules about “height of grasses” is like an HOA in the States does not mean I’m advocating for such things.
I’ll try to remember from now on to add a /s (that’s a snark/sarcasm tag) at the end of posts I make when it’s called for, so you know the difference between serious and, well, sarcasm, as you don’t seem to realize the difference between serious and sarcasm when written.
I think you missed my point Elaine about the ideas of advocacy for Homeowners in Tantramar.. sorry you found it clear as mud…
We actually do not have a voice for the homeowners and we should..
to say your town hall is your voice is an exercise in futility as I discovered this year when 1] trying to get a five minute slot to speak in council about a skatepark project that’s been overdue since 2013; and 2] trying to speak at a housing session with Andrew Black only to be ‘cockblocked’ when I stood next to him at the podium…
I promise to try harder to make my points clearer to you in the future but you appear to be extremely adversial and argumentative with me and I have no idea why that would be.. isn’t it healthy to seek common ground?
Actually no, I didn’t miss the point. Where I think you did though is that a) the comment was sarcasm and b) if you look at Wayne’s comment that I quote in my reply, it’s that specific part I was replying to.
I never said nor implied the town hall is “my voice” (or the collective your) at all. But if somehow you gleaned that from a sarcastic remark about how Tantramar is becoming like an HOA (Homeowners Association) you’d find in the US (where there are busybodies and tend to be people who will lose their ever-loving minds over the smallest rule broken that the HOA implements and it’s not about people’s enjoyment of their own property but rather a collective in which everyone must be of the same mentality, AND, as it relates to the reply I made to Wayne, the height and upkeep of one’s lawn grasses and bureaucracy) I deeply apologize then for implying things that were not intended (or even mentioned specifically) somehow.
I do have one question:
Why would we have a voice for homeowners, is it not up to the individual homeowners to speak for themselves? As a Libertarian, I thought you were all about individuals speaking up for and acting for themselves?
To a last point – considering this post was made in January, and you’re posting now about it, the question of being ‘adversarial and argumentative’, or at least wanting to stir the pot with something that was, I thought, obviously sarcasm came more to my mind about your out-of-the-blue reply. It was very much WTF and where did this come from?
So I replied in kind to clarify your assumptions (that I was advocating for an HOA) and answer the question of my being a homehowner. I added the last bit, because it is clear you did not get what was intended as sarcasm. So I thought only to help you in future. But if even that help is seen as somehow adversarial and argumentative, then I don’t know what to tell you. Considering your posts/replies on several articles I’ve seen, that’s a you thing. I’ve no issues with standing in opposition to ideas even against the most out-there beliefs. And if there is some sort of common ground ‘tween us on an idea or topic, I will give the credit when it’s due.
I hope that’s clear; if not, feel free to mention it. 🙂
Absolutely! We want many voices, but the model the town runs on is the Carver POLICY GOVERNANCE. To See how the one employee non profit second tier of the Town Tantramar operates go to the New Brunswick Education Governance portion. It’s geared to big corporations not citizens’ initiatives. Carver is quite clear that council is dishonest if they meet with special interest groups and individuals. Council is actually a board of directors and you are an owner. You might well go directly to Holt with your team. Lobby for a deliberative council which has Wards with advocacy powers, not just fakes for election purposes.
Elaine and Sally, save it for the pay-per-view!
??
Save what?