The provincial government is reluctant to put any additional regulations in place on the local rental market to address rising rental rates.
Minister of Digital Government and Service NL, Sarah Stoodley, was responding to calls from NDP Leader Jim Dinn for action to address rental costs. Dinn wants the province to create more community-based housing or implement rent stabilization whereby landlords justify increases.
NDP Leader Jim Dinn
Stoodley says implementing rent caps or adding regulations wouldn’t necessarily result in more affordable rental rates.
She says the data does not show that an extra regulatory layer would be in the best interest of rental prices.
“Fundamentally it is a supply problem. We need more housing, we need to make housing more affordable for everyone.”
She says they also don’t want to “scare off all the developers. We need them to come and build big apartment buildings, and we need lots more places for people to stay and rent.”
