Nova Scotia's public housing is poorly monitored, units are underutilized: AG report

Nova Scotia’s auditor general has discovered cracks in the province’s public housing foundation.

There are 6,000 families on the wait list for one of Nova Scotia’s 11,200 public housing units, but a new report released Tuesday has found that 1,500 of those housing units are underutilized.

Auditor General Kim Adair concluded in her report that Nova Scotia doesn’t have an effective governance structure in place for public housing and is failing to provide adequate oversight of the regional housing authorities across the province.

Adair’s report also noted that regional housing authorities were not adequately monitoring continued eligibility for public housing, resulting in tenants living in larger units than they need, while families remained on a wait list.

"Our findings are very significant given the current situation, where the demand for public housing far exceeds supply," Adair told reporters. "Because demand is beyond supply, what's important is that the existing portfolio (housing supply) be used as efficiently as possible."

While the average wait time is about two years, some applicants can wait much longer.

Adair said it takes more than double the 60-day target to place new tenants into vacated units, meaning units can sit vacant for months at a time.

"If they address that turnaround time people will be placed more quickly," said Adair. “It is important that eligible Nova Scotians are provided access to public housing in a fair, consistent and timely manner that ensures existing public housing units are used to their maximum potential."

Adair is urging the province to take immediate action and has made 20 recommendations, including implement an effective governance structure, create a fair and consistent public housing application process, as well as an accurate wait list ranking system.

She says, currently, there is no publicly available reporting on wait lists, vacancy rates or turnaround times.

"This information is of great significance to those awaiting a placement in public housing and should be made available to the public," the report said.

The responsibility of the housing program has been transferred to three different departments since 2019 because of restructuring, according to Adair. There were also five deputy ministers in charge of the housing portfolio over the three-year period from Jan. 1, 2019 to Dec. 21, 2020.

Currently, the Department of Municipal Affairs and Housing is responsible for it, which said it agrees with the recommendations and is actively working toward resolutions.

“As the government, we owe it to all Nova Scotians to ensure we are managing our public housing units efficiently,” said Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister John Lohr in a news release.

“While the issues did not develop overnight and we know there is much to improve, we are taking immediate action to make things better.”

Lohr said the province has brought in a standardized application process and is taking steps to reduce wait lists and decrease turnaround times.

“Part of the response involves creating a new entity to provide independent oversight,” Lohr said.  “The entity will be accountable and solely focused on improving public housing.” 

According to Lohr, he also wants the housing authorities to better manage vacancy rates.

"I'm not happy with the vacancy rate because that reflects on the turnaround time on our units," he said.

The report also said the provincial government spent just over $54 million on its five regional housing authorities, or about one-third of the $153 million operating costs, in the 2020-21 fiscal year.

Tenant rents covered $67 million, and the remaining $31 million was shared between the federal and municipal governments.

The overall operating loss was $85.65 million, about 56 per cent of total housing authority expenses, according to Adair's report.

With files from The Canadian Press.