High-end housing squeezes out people who need it most

Randy Burtch is surrounded by everything he owns — a few grocery bags filled with clothes, some newspaper clippings, and photos of his parents. It's mid-morning and he's packing it all up. He has to be out of his hotel room by noon.

Five days before, a fire at the Fredericton rooming house where he was living left him and 10 others with no place to go. The Red Cross put him up in a local hotel room, but now the funding has run out.

"I'm going to go put my stuff in storage and from there I really don't know," said Burtch. "I have no options really. It's not for lack of effort."

He tried everything he could think of — scoured online ads, called friends, but he hasn't found anything he can afford.

"I was looking on Kijiji this morning," said Burtch, who worked in construction during the summer but is now unemployed.

"You know, $595 for a room, $750 for a room. Spoke to a lady there a little while ago. … She wanted $1,400 and change for a room — for a room — that was first and last (month's rent), damage deposit, that's sort of what it cost in the long run.

"I just can't do that — I could do it, but I'd probably go hungry."

A problem across New Brunswick

It's a struggle that has become more common across the province. As the vacancy rate goes down and the rents go up, there is less and less affordable housing.

And many in the province, like Randy Burtch, are just one misfortune away from being homeless.

There are 500 people experiencing homelessness in Fredericton, Moncton and Saint John and more than 5,000 households are on a waiting list for a subsidized apartment.

It's something Brian Duplessis knows all about. He's the president of the board of the Fredericton Homeless Shelters.

He works with several organizations to find affordable housing and pushes to get more built.

"About 10 years ago, there seemed to be an influx of affordable housing and subsidized units being built," he said.

Since then the need has grown, but the affordable housing stock hasn't.

"There's just such limited availability in Fredericton," Duplessis said. "If you take a look around, almost all of the new apartments, and there's lots of new apartments being built, they're for the middle and upper-income folks who are coming into the city."

What development looks like in Fredericton

In 2017 in Fredericton, 122 apartment units were built in the city.

Just two years later, in the first half of this year, 191 new units were started.

But despite all the construction, the vacancy rate in the capital city is still less than two per cent.

In November, the City of Fredericton took developers, reporters and city staff and councillors on a bus ride to see some of that development.

At every stop the story was similar — pricey apartments that were snapped up quickly.

In a new building on Main Street, 16 one-bedroom apartments were rented within a week at $1,000 a month.

In Devon, a new 80-unit Colpitts development called Station House stretches nearly the entire length of the street.

An indoor pool, gym, rooftop patio, woodworking shop and underground parking are just some of its amenities.

The building won't be finished until April, but according to Craig McElroy, vice-president at Colpitts Developments, about half the units are already rented at $1,400 to $2,200 a month.

"It's clear affordable housing is not a priority here in the city," Perry Kendall, CEO of Habitat for Humanity in Fredericton, said after the tour.

Options for housing are getting worse

Whether it be housing developments, condos or apartments, he said every new development is focused on high-end rents and purchase prices.

"I feel there absolutely needs to be more of a focus on every aspect of the population and there's more and more people," he said.

"Whether it be seniors, whether it be the young families, they have very few options and those options are getting worse and worse."

The city recently donated land for the construction of two new affordable housing buildings, which will provide seven units. It's also contributing more than $100,000 to the overall project, a collaborative effort by several community organizations.

Kendall said it's a good start, but it still leaves large gaps in the city's housing.

The solution?

Incentives to build affordable housing have to come from both the city and the province.

Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante recently introduced new rules that will force developers to include social and affordable housing in all projects of five units or more.

But Fredericton's Mayor Mike O'Brien said he doesn't have that authority.

"I would love to see that, but we're not allowed to do that by legislation," he said.

" … That's called inclusionary zoning. For example, you want to build 100 new units, and X amount must be for social housing or affordable rentals. Some other provinces have that legislation. We do not."

Erika Jutras, a spokesperson for the Department of Local Government, wouldn't say whether such a regulation would be allowed in New Brunswick.

But Jutras said there is a tool available to local governments that could provide an incentive to developers.

She said municipalities can create what's called a density bonus zoning bylaw. That would give cities the ability to allow more units than would normally be permitted — if the developer created affordable housing units.

A home for a friend

A week after packing his belongings and leaving the hotel room, Randy Burtch did find a new place to live.

You could say he was lucky. He had enough savings to buy a cheap car, which he lived in for two nights.

"I guess most people would probably say it sucks but I don't know, I kind of take things with a grain of salt. You know, it is what it is. I do what I gotta do."

When his doctor found out where he was, she brought him blankets and a plate of ribs.

Then, unexpectedly, a friend came through with a temporary room outside the city centre for $300 a month.

"We need to build some houses."