It took only a few years for online short-term rentals to go from a cool new app providing cheap accommodation to a perceived worldwide menace that is distorting the rental-housing market and locking people out of badly needed housing.
So maybe governments deserve some slack when it comes to faulting their reaction.
But it started going bad years ago. In B.C. and elsewhere, the last decade or so was taken up by ineffectually dabbing at the problem and bringing in measures that didn’t accomplish much of anything.
Meanwhile, one of the most punishing parts of the overall housing crisis — the shortage of affordable rental places — got worse. So the reason the B.C. government took such major steps Monday against short-term rentals is because the problem was allowed to get so big.
“Crackdown on abuses in short-term rental market” was a Times 91原创 headline in 2006.
That was two years before Airbnb was even invented. It was about the City of Victoria’s second attempt to tighten a bylaw.
All the problems highlighted on Monday were on display then. City staff warned that short-term rentals in areas not zoned for that use were a “huge growth industry” everywhere, not just in Victoria.
Illegal vacation rentals annoy next-door condo dwellers and compound the rental crisis by taking units from the pool that permanent residents need, they said.
The problem festered for years, and by the mid-20-teens, it was a fixture on council agendas. (“City may target short-term rentals in housing crackdown” was a 2017 headline)
The concept that tourists needed cheap places to stay and homeowners could rent out suites to help cover their own costs was countered by complaints about “ghost hotels,” noisy strangers next door, and tax unfairness.
The B.C. government, as part of a vaunted 30-point housing plan, took notice in 2018 by reaching a deal with Airbnb to at least collect some taxes. “Province and Airbnb working to fund affordable housing” was the cheery heading on a news release.
The huge corporation started collecting the sales tax on behalf of almost 20,000 unit owners registered with the company at the time.
Later that year, the government strengthened condo strata rules so buildings with limits on short-term rentals could hike the fines for contraventions from $200 to $1,000.
“Short-term rentals have put significant pressure on vacancy rates, rents and homes prices,” said the government. “They can mean unacceptable levels of noise, damage and security issues.”
After five more years of arguments as the rental crisis intensified, B.C.’s new stance was unveiled in the Short Term Rentals Accommodation Act on Monday.
It aims to curtail the practice in most communities around B.C. starting next spring and eradicate the option completely for absentee owners in most larger communities.
About 30 communities already have varying bylaw and licensing requirements, but the legislation will mostly supersede them. Background documents show how badly the earlier control measures have failed.
From a sampling of 15 municipalities, the percentage of non-compliant short-term rental listings is estimated at 40-50 per cent. (If half are already illegal, it’s hard to tell if making them even more illegal makes any difference.)
In one of the City of Victoria’s crackdowns, restrictions were imposed, but about 1,600 hosts were exempted and continued to operate as “legal non-conforming.”
Officials said 42 per cent of Victoria’s short-term rental licences are held by owners who live out of town.
It will make for a winter of rental real estate turmoil. The working estimate is that 16,000 B.C. homes are short-term rentals for most of the year. If even just half of them accede to the provincial drive, quit the short-term market and lease to tenants, that’s a big boost to the rental pool.
But there are complications with secondary suites and other issues that could reduce that figure. The surge in short-term rentals to date could be replaced by a surge in condo sales, and a surge in hotel prices as the options for visitors decrease.
Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon’s direct message was that owners are welcome to rent out accommodation when they are away, but “those of you that are renting out dozens of short-term rentals to make a huge profit or taking away homes for people, you should probably be thinking about a new profit scheme in the very near future.”
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