Where are the landlords of Condo Style Buildings Finding the people??

By Kendall Worth!

Sign Reads: I am standing in front of Washmill Lake Drive.  This street has many condo style buildings  With the increasing number of people living in poverty and becoming homeless in Halifax, where are the landlords finding people to pay rents of $1800-$3000 a month?

 

 

From time to time over these last couple of years I have had conversations with people who raise the burning question about the buildings you see when you drive along places like Washmill Drive which connects Clayton Park to Bayers Lake. It seems especially bothersome to the welfare recipients who live in the Clayton Park/Fairview area of Halifax. Some, I know personally, who live in that area, look at those condo style buildings, and understand that they will never be able to live in them unless and until the unlikely event that the Income Assistance rates increase to something above and beyond the $2000 a month CERB was during it’s short lived time. Taking a moment here to pretend the current Income Assistance rate was $2000 a month, with rents on Washmill Lake Drive (from what sources tell me) at $1800 a month, it would leave only $200 a month to live on. And sources tell me that none of these buildings include electricity in the rent.

To the community of people living in poverty in Halifax, where commercial landlords are finding the people to fill those units. People living in poverty consider that these buildings (like the ones in the Picture of me standing on Washmill Lake Drive) have been around since before the Income Assistance rates increased in 2020, from $810.00 to$850.00 a month then in 2021 increased to $950.00., even though those buildings look fairly new to the eyes of the public at large.

When you look at Halifax's economy – we see that even people who have good jobs like Restaurant Servers, Bar Tenders, as talked about in this post here teaching assistants and library staff working at schools. The point I am trying to make here is many working people here in Halifax cannot afford this level of rent. The community of people I advocate for believe that factors are tough given that according to sources of mine, rents in those buildings start at $1800 a month and range upward of $3000 a month.

Single parents on welfare who live in the Clayton Park area tell me that when they are on that bus going through that neighbourhood. They always admire the family orientation and the opportunity to stay out of social isolation. In the eyes of people I talk to -- these three (who I wrote about here) and other first voice who live in Clayton Park/Fairview wish they had what the Washmill Lake neighbourhood has to offer. They tell me that they admire the neighbourhood, knowing and understanding that they are never going to be able to afford to live on Washmill Lake Drive.

However we should not always assume things as this post talks about and to remember not everything appears as it seems as I wrote about in Part II here. h

Neighbourhoods in metro Halifax/Dartmouth where these condo style buildings are located, is not limited to Washmill Lake Drive. Larry Uteck is an example of another area within Halifax where sources tell me rents start at $1500/$1600 a month and utilities are not included with rent. So even a $2000 a month living allowance of any type is not enough these days. One of the questions that are burning in people’s minds these days is: Considering that the homeless population continues to increase and with inflation behaving the way it is, plus money not being enough to live on, where are the landlords of expensive buildings finding the people who can afford those insane prices for rental units?

However everything in life has it’s advantages and disadvantages!

What advantage does an an income assistance recipient, especially one who cannot work full time because of their disabilities, have? I am going to take a moment here to go back to this article where I made a strong case for what Quality of life could look like if people had enough money to live on. There are a lot of advantages to living in places like the condo style buildings on Washmill Drive or Larry Uteck despite high rents. Both neighbourhoods are located near beautiful Nature Trails, where as I pointed out in this recent BLOG post, walks through nature are good for mental health as well as a zero-cost activity for people to get out and socialize. Something I pointed out in this BLOG post is ”When Income Assistance recipients complain to the their Doctor and/or other professionals about not having friends they can meet for Coffee or go for walks with, the professionals behave like they do not understand that Income Assistance recipients are not necessarily friends with the people they see when they are standing in line at their Food Bank or at the soup kitchens.” Along with other professionals, some in the community have said the following questions have been asked by professionals:

• So what about people you see when you are standing in line at your Food Bank and/or attend at places like Souls Harbour, Hope Cottage?

• For those who have part time jobs supplementing their incomes get asked “do you have any friends at your part time job? “

• And more specially what relates to the need for BLOCK Parties with a purpose, is they get asked by the professionals; Do you have any friends within the apartment building where you live?

One advantage that those condo style buildings provide is fitness centres and common rooms right inside the apartment buildings. This speaks volumes as to why people who can afford these types of rent can have friends right inside their apartment buildings.

Living in a condo style apartment building can also decrease the level of social isolation that someone lives with. Many of the welfare recipients who live in Fairview/Clayton park whom I am in contact with tell me that they stay away from Washmill lake Drive because of fear of stigma. Some single parents, however, tell me that they would love to live on Washmill Lake Drive because of the family orientation they see when they are passing through that neighbourhood.

So Think. Start looking at disadvantages vs advantages when considering support for basic guaranteed income, taking into account, all I have said. However, maybe even a Basic Guaranteed Income is not the answer when it comes to how people can afford rents on Washmill lake Drive or in other neighbourhoods that have condo-style apartment buildings.