Killam reports 'largest rental gains' on new leases in company's history in most recent update

Halifax-based landlord Killam Apartment REIT recorded the "largest rental gains" in company history for when new tenants move into an apartment, according to its financial report for the quarter ending Sept. 30.

Killam owns 5,710 apartment units in Halifax and more than 18,000 across Canada. 

"Rental increases achieved with new leases are strongest in Halifax, Saint John and Moncton," said Killam executive vice-president Robert Richardson during the company's third-quarter earnings call on Nov. 7.

Excluding the effects of buying and selling properties, the company reported an average monthly rent of $1,443 in Halifax as of Sept. 30. That's an annual increase of 8.4 per cent and nearly double the increase reported last year. 

Like other landlords, Killam boosts rents to the market rate when new tenants sign a lease, pushing the reported average rent increase above Nova Scotia's five per cent cap. The cap only applies to lease renewals.

Killam's financial results are an example of the overall trends we've been seeing in recent years in rental markets where there's been inadequate housing supply, said Neil Lovitt, a vice-president with Turner Drake, a real estate consulting company.

"That creates an opportunity for for-profit housing providers to raise rents to market prices when they have an opportunity to do so," Lovitt said. "They're … doing what any market participant really can do." 

For its overall portfolio of apartments across Canada, Killam increased rents by 20.4 per cent when new tenants moved in between July and September. In Halifax, the increase was higher than that, according to a chart from its earnings call slideshow. 

An analyst on the call asked Richardson whether the company has concerns about being able to achieve rent increases that match Nova Scotia's rent cap on lease renewals, considering market changes like lower inflation. 

"We feel quite confident that we can achieve it," Richardson said.

Killam's financial results show there's a large need for public and other forms of non-market housing, where rents are kept lower, said Cape Breton University associate professor Catherine Leviten-Reid.

"Housing is a human right, and housing is a place we all deserve to … have in order to live our daily lives," said Leviten-Reid, who researches affordable rental housing.

Killam has previously told CBC News that it's a provider of affordable housing in Halifax, and that the private market alone won't address the housing crisis.

During the earnings call, executive vice-president Richardson said that Killam works to increase supply of apartments with long-term affordability commitments through programs with the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.