New Brunswick has no plans to extend its current rent cap, according to the minister responsible for housing.
Service New Brunswick Minister Jill Green confirmed the news to reporters at the legislature on Thursday.
“The rent cap is off the table right now. It was a temporary measure,” Green said when pressed by reporters.
Legislation that capped rent increases at 3.8 per cent in 2022 received Royal Assent in June.
The measure was meant to help alleviate pressures tenants are facing with low vacancy rates and rising costs. It will expire on December 31.
As summer turned into fall, calls from advocates to keep a rent cap in place next year have grown larger.
However, Green said the cap deterred developers from creating new rental units in the province.
“Rent caps have been shown not to have the desired effect. If you look at any article by an economist, they say rent caps don’t work,” the minister said. “We need development so we need a laser-focused approach.”
Green did announce two proposed protections on Thursday that she said will help protect tenants from excessive rent increases.
Tenants would have 60 days instead of 30 days to apply for a review through the Residential Tenancies Tribunal.
In addition, the Tribunal would be able to phase in approved rent increases over three years if they exceed inflation. Landlords would not be able to seek another rent increase during that time.
“If we find that without the cap in place that tenants are having problems or are becoming vulnerable, we will put programs in place to help them,” said Green.
Green said the government has also implemented several permanent protections in recent months, such as limiting a rent increase to once every 12 months and requiring six months’ notice to increase rents.
A number of tenants have already come forward since July 1, she said, when landlords started serving rent increases for the new year.
“We’ve dealt with all of them in a very fast timeline. I hope there’s not a flood of changes [come January 1], but we will adapt accordingly if we experience a higher volume than normal,” said Green.
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