N.B. Liberals promise 30,000 news homes by 2030 if elected

The New Brunswick Liberals say they will build 30,000 new housing units by 2030 if elected into power.

The New Brunswick Liberals say they will build 30,000 new housing units by 2030 if elected into power.

The announcement was the main highlight from day three of the provincial election campaign, with the Susan Holt led Liberals making the commitment in Moncton Saturday morning.

“Blaine Higgs and Minister Jill Green have been dragging their feet for far too long leaving people living in precarious situations,” says Holt. “The vacancy rate in New Brunswick is 1.5 per cent. We are lagging behind our neighbors on housing starts and rents have increased in New Brunswick almost 11 per cent more than any neighboring province.”

In order to see the thousands of units are built by the end of the decade, Holt says her government would temporarily remove the provincial sales tax off of new multi-unit residential to encourage development across the province.

As for what areas of the province would see the bulk of theses new units, Holt says they are open to working with anyone ready for construction.

“This is available to all developers on all development projects,” says Holt. “It could stretch into the furthest corners of New Brunswick, but wherever we have folks who are prepared to build affordable housing for New Brunswickers this is available to them.

According to the Liberals, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island have developed similar policies which has seen their housing starts increase in comparison to New Brunswick by more then double.