Quote:
Originally Posted by someone123
This seems like a very limited tool for fixing the problems in NS. Some problems with it:
- These cottages are not necessarily the form of housing that is in short supply in NS
- This is likely a very small market compared to the housing shortfall that exists
- There's a housing crunch now but there are already signs of the market cooling in Canada and interest rates are going up. Economic conditions can change quickly, but these rules are hard to roll back and once you "burn" people looking for holiday properties they may not come back.
- NS does not have a shortage of land; it is mostly undeveloped. There are lots of other regulatory areas that can be focused on (should have been years ago).
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Agreed on all points. I think this is a bad idea which will do next to nothing to address any housing shortage. It surprised me because I perceived Houston as smarter than that and I can only conclude that it's really just a pretty base political sop. It might scare up a little loose change from between the seat cushions, but it won't produce any real revenue windfall and certainly won't fix the housing deficit. It will, however, alienate a lot of non-residents who have already demonstrated that they love the province - at precisely the same time that Houston wants to aggressively grow the population.
Seems ill-conceived all the way around. Very disappointing, to me.