Ecology group says N.S. coastal property rules fall short

The Ecology Action Centre says recent changes to property disclosure forms for coastal property buyers are a good step, but not enough.

Earlier this week, the province announced prospective buyers of coastal property in Nova Scotia would be given the option to request disclosure forms from sellers on erosion, flooding or drainage risks.

But Nicolas Winkler with the Ecology Action Centre tells 95.7 NewsRadio that although it’s a positive development, most people aren’t able to properly assess coastal risks.

“There are people who spend their entire careers measuring erosion or storm action, and to think that a layperson looking at some basic information can make big, informed decisions, I find problematic,” said Winkler.

He said one key issue with the property disclosure changes is that they don’t apply to private sales.

“One of the questions that I had when I looked at this release is that if you have a coastal property that may be at risk, or where you have done some flood mitigation work, are you more likely to conduct a private sale?” said Winkler. “It does beg the question of whether it creates space for transactions to increase outside formal real estate transactions to sort of bypass that.”

The Nova Scotia government says property disclosure statements encourage communication between sellers and buyers and help protect both parties in real estate transactions.

The Nova Scotia Real Estate Commission introduced the change to increase awareness and understanding of potential hazards that come with owning coastal properties. According to the province, the new requirements apply to both developed properties and vacant land.

The disclosure change is in addition to other tools introduced by the province in the past year, including a coastal hazard assessment report that offers property-specific information on flooding and erosion risks, and an interactive hazard mapping tool that shows possible coastal impacts.