N.S. landlord group says fixed-term leases are needed. Not everyone’s convinced N.S. landlord group says fixed-term leases are needed. Not everyone’s convinced N.S. landlord group says fixed-term leases are needed. Not everyone’s convinced N.S. landlord group says fixed-term leases are needed. Not everyone’s convinced N.S. landlord group says fixed-term leases are needed. Not everyone’s convinced N.S. landlord group says fixed-term leases are needed. Not everyone’s convinced N.S. landlord group says fixed-term leases are needed. Not everyone’s convinced N.S. landlord group says fixed-term leases are needed. Not everyone’s convinced N.S. landlord group says fixed-term leases are needed. Not everyone’s convinced N.S. landlord group says fixed-term leases are needed. Not everyone’s convinced

A group representing landlords in Nova Scotia says the province’s already-strained rental supply will decrease further if fixed-term leases are restricted or eliminated.

A group representing landlords in Nova Scotia says the province’s already-strained rental supply will decrease further if fixed-term leases are restricted or eliminated.

The Investment Property Owners Association of Nova Scotia (IPOANS) recently released survey results of what members would do if the province moved to restrict or eliminate fixed-term leases, despite the fact that no potential measures have been announced.

Kevin Russell, executive director of IPOANS, said they ran the survey in response to a number of media reports in recent months “demonizing” the use of fixed-term leases.

“The fact of the matter is they do play a very important role in keeping tenants in housing, and we thought it was important to find out from our members what would be the impact if fixed-term leases were altered or restricted, or even abolished,” he said.

Those media reports include multiple stories from tenants who, despite making timely rent payments and having no other complaints, have been forced out of their homes and into a tight rental market after their leases weren’t renewed.

A survey among those sleeping rough in Halifax over the summer also indicated that fixed-term leases and renovictions were responsible for 22.5 per cent of them losing their homes.

Unlike periodic leases – such as month-to-month or year-to-year – fixed-term leases have fixed start and end dates, meaning they are not automatically renewed.

Critics have decried fixed-term leases as a “loophole” for landlords to get around the provincial rent cap, as rent increases do not apply to new tenants.