Green Plan to Drive the Development of Affordable Housing

 

September 26, 2024

FREDERICTON - Today Green Party Leader David Coon announced the Green Party’s Five-Point Plan to maintain and expand the availability of affordable housing in New Brunswick. 

 “Since the government got out of the business of building housing in the 1990s, Liberal and Conservative governments have let the supply of affordable housing fall by the wayside,” said Coon. “Now that I’ve succeeded in getting the NB Housing Corporation up and running again, it’s time to use it to its full potential to drive the development of affordable housing.”

The Green Affordable Housing Plan will: 

  • Establish a permanent rent cap of a maximum of 2.5% to protect tenants from unaffordable rent increases and keep them housed.
  • Drive the development of non-market housing by non-profits, cooperatives, faith communities and service clubs by mandating the NB Housing Corporation to be the first funder to provide access to the required capital.
  • Invest in supportive housing programs that combine affordable housing with wrap-around support services to address the needs of the homeless population with the most complex needs.
  • Incentivize private developers with  lower property taxes if they build low rent apartments.  The property assessment for rental units will be based on their rental income rather than the property value. This will significantly reduce the property tax costs for low rent apartments, making affordable housing a more reasonable investment.
  • Adopt right of first refusal legislation to enable the New Brunswick Housing Corporation, and municipal housing authorities  to acquire low-cost housing when available.

“Affordable housing is a fundamental human right, so a Green government will treat it that way and drive a renovation and construction boom to ensure there is an adequate supply of affordable housing,” said Coon. “And we will ensure the homeless are housed and remain housed,  using proven strategies like the 12 Neighbours housing model in Fredericton, and the complex care housing model pioneered in British Columbia.”

 

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