People looking for housing in St. John’s, the capital of Newfoundland and Labrador, are finding it increasingly difficult to find one.
One of those people, Stacey Crant, 33, who works in retail, said she and her roommate have responded to more than 100 ads for apartments to rent since July, and only one landlord has offered to show them his.
“We are dream tenants. We are quiet, careful and we do not cause any problems,” says Ms. Crant.
Open in full screen mode
Stacey Crant, a long-time tenant in St. John’s, says she’s never had such a hard time getting a simple answer from landlords before.
Photo: Courtesy/Stacey Crant
Saint John currently has a vacancy rate of just 1.5%, its lowest rate in more than a decade, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. That’s even though the number of private rental units has increased by about 400 since 2020.
When owners make these announcements on [Facebook] Marketplace and elsewhere, they have so many messages that it’s impossible for them to read them all, Stacey Crant points out. It’s been scary for a while now.
Crant and her roommate finally found an apartment last week after a three-month search. Without it, she said, they risked being evicted from their previous home, which will have a new owner in October.
Common difficulties, according to an observer
It’s a common situation these days, according to Sherwin Flight, who runs a Facebook support group for tenants and landlords and has been monitoring the rental market in St. John’s since 2012.
People are finding it increasingly difficult to find housing, says Mr. Flight.
Open in full screen mode
Sherwin Flight, a long-time observer of the Saint John rental market, says people are finding it increasingly difficult to find housing.
Photo : Radio-Canada
About three or four years ago, the majority of posts in these groups were from landlords listing their homes for rent, and interested tenants would comment, Sherwin Flight said.
Nowadays, it’s the other way around. Most of the posts are from renters looking for housing. They often use the word desperation, he says.
Sherwin Flight doesn’t know why the vacancy rate has dropped as much as it has, but he suspects the city’s population growth in recent years is to blame. He also suspects that landlords who have struggled financially in the past two years have sold their properties or turned them into short-term rentals.
I think we also need a lot more social housing, says Mr Flight.
Saint-Jean takes measures
The Municipality of Saint-Jean announced in March that it would offer incentives to encourage the construction of residential buildings and the development of apartments in private homes.
Open in full screen mode
The city of St. John’s, Newfoundland. (File photo)
Photo : Radio-Canada
According to a spokesperson, as of last week, Saint John had six multi-use rental housing projects benefiting from the program, and it had received 26 applications under the homeowners’ grant program, including two for backyard apartments.
Urgent action is needed to ease the housing crisis, adds Stacey Crant.
The possibility of becoming homeless is kind of crazy. As it stands, it can literally happen to anyone. I don’t think any tenant is safe, Crant said.
According to a report by Malone Mullin of CBC
