Students Can’t Find Affordable Housing in Halifax
HALIFAX — Even under the best circumstances, there is a lot of stress on university students, with deadlines, studying, and even social pressures. But for many post-secondary students in Halifax, an even bigger pressure looms: finding a home they can afford.
The Halifax housing crisis has affected everyone who lives in the city. But, for students on a tight budget, it has been daunting. Katie Cheslock, a third-year international studies student at Kings College, lives in a three-bedroom apartment with two roommates. They once paid $700 each (electricity not included), but their new fixed-term lease will have them pay $800.
Cheslock is so concerned with the unaffordability of housing and food for students that she co-founded Dalhousie’s Mutual Aid Society. Last Tuesday, the society organized a student protest at the Nova Scotia legislature to bring attention to the student housing issue.
“We want our politicians to understand that affordable housing is a really big, and very real, issue affecting this community — and it’s something that we want to be taken seriously,” Cheslock said in an interview with Huddle.
“These issues of food and housing insecurity are relevant to everyone in Halifax. But I think that they are incredibly relevant to students, as many students have varying degrees of financial instability and many of us are living independently for the first time.”
The Mutual Aide society conducted a poll with Dalhousie University students. According to this early survey, 75 per cent of respondents have struggled to find affordable housing.
On Wednesday, the provincial government announced it was extending the rent cap until the end of 2025, although it will increase from two per cent to five per cent in 2024. There was some disappointment, however, that there was no ban on fixed-term leases, which many renters say landlords use to circumvent the cap.
“I think that they’re a somewhat exploitive and incredibly frustrating loophole to the existence of a rental cap, which is a sentiment that’s echoed by a lot of students,” says Cheslock.
“I remember when I was originally looking for a place to live with my roommates, we talked to a number of different landlords and looked at different leases. And we were trying quite hard to avoid signing a fixed-term lease because we knew it could potentially come back to bite us down the line.”
Like many students, Cheslock lived in residence when she first started university. That isn’t cheap either. Kings College advertises a cost of $12,000 per school year to live in residence with a meal plan. But Cheslock considered staying in residence longer because of the rental situation in Halifax.
“Given the increasing costs of the rental market, there was a moment in time when living in residence didn’t necessarily seem like that bad of an idea because of the cost of living in the community,” she said.
Ian Kerr, who is also a third-year Kings College student, has had a similar experience with fixed-term leases. He and his roommate are paying $925 each for their apartment. But Kerr says if they wanted to stay, it would cost $200 more for each of them. When they objected to the price increase, Kerr claims the landlord signed a lease with other tenants.
The two friends found a new apartment but are now paying $1,000 each with no utilities included. Kerr says the cost of student housing is extreme, especially when looking at other university cities and what students are paying there.
“It’s pretty absurd how expensive it is. My girlfriend goes to school at Mount Allison in Sackville [New Brunswick] and they have a four-person apartment that is way larger than mine and their rent is only $500 a month [each], including all of the utilities.”
Kerr says he is fortunate to have his parents helping with the costs of living while he is at university.
Unfortunately, it’s unlikely that current university students will see the end of the Halifax housing crisis before they graduate. Vacancy rates are still below one per cent and, despite new developments in the works, Halifax is one of the fastest-growing cities in Canada.
There have been housing projects in the city aimed specifically at students, at least. One of the newest places to open is See-More student housing, located on Seymour Street. They started taking in tenants in September.
They have 140 units, all fully furnished. When reached by phone, Huddle was told they have only three-bedroom apartments left to rent (at $1275 per person, all-inclusive), and there is a long list of interested applicants waiting.
Derek Montague is a Huddle reporter in Halifax. Send him your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].