The data collected over the previous year show 5,000 units being listed through AirBnB and similar platforms. Geoff Meggs, particularly as the rising public discourse of affordable housing becomes more and more prominent. “But I’m not surprised by it”.
Advertisement
“I think it’s worrisome”, said Coun.
A release Sunday from the City of Vancouver included early findings from a review of short-term accommodation rental services.
Chief among the rules is that Airbnb rentals of entire homes for less than 30 days per stay are banned, across the board.
As part of the city’s ongoing effort to regulate short-term home rentals, Vancouver has contracted a third-party consulting firm to examine 10 platforms providing the service in Vancouver, including Airbnb, VRBO, OwnersDirect, and Flipkey.
Airbnb recently released a report stating their commitment to working with the city to ensure the community pays its fair share of hotel and tourist taxes, to be transparent with their information, and for working with cities which suffer from a shortage of long-term housing to prevent short-term listings from impacting long-term rental availability.
The numbers lend credence to the theory that those homes are not being rented out long-term, and as such, their absence from the local long-term rental market contribute to the low vacancy rates. It also shows Airbnb dominated the market with 85 per cent of the total units listed online.
“While the City sees the value short-term rental accommodations can provide to residents and visitors, there is concern about possible impacts on the rental stock, especially with this rate of growth”, reads the statement from the city. The recommendations are aimed to support the city’s Rental 100 program, which encourages developers to make buildings comprised of 100 per cent rental units by providing incentives such as relaxed unit sizes, increased density, and the waiving of the development cost levy.
“We’re in a dire situation for the majority of people who want to live and work here”, Meggs said Sunday.
Meggs says the city still needs to figure out how many rentals are being listed by commercial enterprises as there has been disagreement between academics and Airbnb.
Advertisement
The city will seek public input with a survey launching Wednesday.
