Chender criticizes costly provincial housing initiative

Nova Scotia NDP Leader Claudia Chender is slamming the province over a $1.35-million housing program that resulted in just 60 leases over roughly two years.

Earlier this week, the Nova Scotia government defended its contract with Happipad, a non-profit home-sharing platform. A spokesperson for the Department of Municipal Affairs and Housing said the program was a success for the 60 people who found a home.

But Chender tells 95.7 NewsRadio the program was doomed to fail, as it wound up costing more than $22,000 per lease.

“It was an absurd amount of money per lease signed,” she said. “At the time when it was signed, right up to today, we continue to advocate for the government to invest in real, sustainable housing solutions that will address the needs of so many Nova Scotians.”

Chender says the province is failing to address the root problems associated with the housing crisis, including making sure that affordable homes are available for families and for seniors.

“Let’s make sure that family homes are available to families at a price they can afford, and let’s make sure that seniors have places they can live that are safe, stable, secure and affordable. There are lots of things we can do to make meaningful differences in housing, and Happipad was never one of them,” said Chender.

Department spokesperson Chrissy Matheson said in a statement told The Canadian Press, that while the department knows of the 60 formal leases, data from Happipad suggests 400 people “possibly made connections” outside the platform.

Over the course of the nearly two-year program, about 1,850 renters and 950 hosts signed up to use Happipad.

Matheson said the provincial governments remains “focused on delivering on our housing plan that represents a $1.7-billion investment that has cleared the path for over 50,000 units in under two years — with thousands more to come.”