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New home rebate will save construction jobs: Dexter – Metro US

New home rebate will save construction jobs: Dexter

NDP Leader Darrell Dexter said Monday a rebate on newly built homes will keep more construction jobs in Nova Scotia – if he wins the election.

The rebate would relieve 50 per cent of the provincial HST on new home construction costs, with a maximum rebate of $7,000.

“This is a centerpiece of our strategy to create secure jobs and to ensure that young people can stay and work in this province,” Dexter told reporters at the Portland Estates subdivision in Dartmouth.

Dexter was with Andrew Holley, president of the Nova Scotia Homebuilders’ Association and manager of Integrity Homes. Holley’s company drew less business this year due to the economic downturn.

“His company built 50 houses last year, (but) so far this year they’ve built six,” Dexter said, while standing inside a home under construction. “Building sites like this one should be bustling with skilled workers. Instead it’s idle.”

However, the Progressive Conservatives said only 1,500 homes in the province will be eligible for this rebate, pointing out that almost 4,000 homes were built last year alone.

“So who wins and who loses in the NDP’s home lottery?” Infrastructure Renewal Minister Brooke Taylor said in a news release yesterday.