Toronto condo signs first ever Canadian Airbnb regulation partnership

Oct 25 2017, 11:47 pm

Airbnb has signed its first Canadian condo partnership.

Toronto’s Neptune Waterpark Condos now operates under Airbnb’s Friendly Buildings Program, which helps bring hosts, residents, and landlords together with the global home-sharing company to “find solutions that work for the entire community.”

“This is an important milestone for home sharing in Toronto, and in Canada,” said Aaron Zifkin, Regional Director for Airbnb in North America, in a statement. “The program gives property managers and Airbnb the opportunity to work together to proactively manage home sharing in buildings.”

Through the program, Neptune Condos, located near the waterfront, will collect a portion of the money earned by residents hosting their places on Airbnb. The condos would work with Airbnb to decide the percentage received through each booking, and Airbnb said that this generally ranged between 5 to 15%.

As part of the program, all Airbnb’s hosts are provided with primary property insurance of up to $1 million as well as liability insurance of up to $1 million. Airbnb also extends that coverage to a building’s common areas.

“Home sharers and condo corporations can happily co-exist,” said Nick Bednarz, Vice President, Neptune Waterpark Condos. “An open dialogue and a formal framework contributes to the community of the building, and enables renters and condo-owners to share their residential homes to make supplemental income.”

Another benefit for tenants and condo owners is the program provides transparency around which units are listed, and how often. It also sets up ground rules for things like pet control, parking guidelines and access to common spaces.

While the Friendly Buildings Program is new to Canada, it’s previously launched in cities across the US such as Florida, Jersey City, and San Jose.

For Toronto residents, Airbnb provides some relief when it comes to the expensive rental and real estate costs in the city.

“This agreement strikes the right balance,” said Jo Downs, an Airbnb host who lives in Neptune Condos. “Owning a home in Toronto is incredibly expensive for most people. Knowing my partner and I can list our spare bedroom when we don’t need it, gives me peace of mind about keeping up with mortgage payments, while also being a respectful member of my building community.”

According to a City of Toronto report, the number of Airbnb listings in Toronto has tripled between 2014 and 2016, with 15,869 listings and over 10,000 properties rented in 2016. Within those rentals, 65% were listings for the entire unit, while 35% were for a room within a unit.

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