Province referenced 130,000 empty bedrooms when signing deal with the home sharing platform.
Non-profit Home sharing platform Happipad has only facilitated 23 lease-signings since it signed a $1.3-million deal with the Province of Nova Scotia just over a year ago, according to The Canadian Press.
Happipad first partnered with the Nova Scotia government in June 2023 to help people displaced by the province’s unprecedented wildfire season find housing. The province expanded the partnership in August 2023 by investing $1.3 million CAD over two years to make the platform available across the province.
The past year has seen governments at all levels look to address what has been called a housing crisis as rent and property prices skyrocket.
“We all have a role to play as we work together to overcome this housing crisis, and today’s announcement is a call to action to all Nova Scotians who may have extra space in their homes to consider hosting a person or family in their home,” Nova Scotia Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister John Lohr said when the deal was announced.
Lohr added that Nova Scotia had 130,000 vacant bedrooms, and that the expanded program would help more people who need “a safe, affordable and comfortable short-term accommodation.”
By November 2023, Nova Scotia Department of Municipal Affairs and Housing Deputy Minister Byron Rafuse said 200 households and 558 renters had registered, the Halifax Examiner reported, adding that only four contracts had been signed by then.
That number has increased to a total of 60 listed rooms and 23 leases signed as of July 31, 2024, according to The Canadian Press. Nova Scotia Advanced Education Minister Brian Wong told The Canadian Press that he sees the potential in the platform and that it had seen seven leases signed in July, the most in a single month since the deal was announced.
In an email statement to BetaKit, Happipad said that the Canadian Press report only covers the first eight months of the program’s operations, as Happipad was not allowed to launch until the Nova Scotia wildfires were resolved, causing it to miss the student housing cycle.
“We did help with the wildfires which was a different approach, we actually built some new software to help with emergency housing placements,” Happipad explained in a statement. “Emergency housing and long-term home sharing are very different types of programs.”
Happipad added that it is also undertaking a grassroots campaign to raise awareness of its platform and inform those not on social media of its existence to encourage sign-ups.
“Despite these challenges, we have a goal of supporting 500 households by the end of two years which our signup trajectory is showing,” the statement reads. “While signups are meeting or slightly exceeding expectations, the number of finalized matches is lagging slightly behind.”
Happipad said it is “very pleased” with the progress it has made so far, as growth in programs like itself is not linear. The company added that it is beginning to see momentum build. Happipad said that it currently has 937 registered renter profiles, 643 registered hosts, and 312 listings in progress.
Happipad, a Canadian non-profit organization based in Kelowna, BC, began with help from the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), and offers services in every province. It matches prospective renters with homeowners who have a room in their home available to rent and provides contracts, a payment platform, and support in case there is an issue.
RELATED: Nova Scotia government invests $1.3 million in home-sharing platform Happipad
The past year has seen governments at all levels look to address what has been called a housing crisis as rent and property prices skyrocket. A CMHC report released in September 2023 found that Canada will need 3.5 million more housing units on top of what is already being built to restore housing affordability.
Halifax Atlantic MLA Brendan Maguire has voiced concerns about the province’s investment in the platform, having questioned what made Happipad more effective than any other classifieds app or website like Kijiji. The Halifax Examiner has also dissected the price and quality of some of Happipad’s public room listings in Halifax, and concluded there were no marked differences between it and other rental listing platforms.
Happipad explained that it sets itself apart from classifieds, and unlocks “underutilized” housing, by performing background checks, check-ins, and conflict resolution support to attract users who may not feel safe using a classifieds website. Happipad added that some hosts prefer to keep listings private to view potential renter matches before inviting them to apply because of privacy concerns, meaning not all listings are publicly visible.
BetaKit has reached out to Nova Scotia, CMHC, Happipad, and Lohr for comment.
UPDATE (08/27/2024): This story has been updated with commentary from Happipad.
Feature image courtesy of Pixabay. Photo by Oleksandr Pidvalnyi.
