BC government to announce legislation regulating short-term rentals Monday

Airbnb (Shutterstock)

The Government of British Columbia will release details Monday morning on how it will better regulate short-term rentals as part of the effort to improve housing affordability and supply.

Few details are available at this time, but the proposed legislation will be introduced to “return short-term rentals to long-term homes for people.”

As well, the legislation will provide more tools and resources to municipal governments to better ensure the enforcement of the rules.

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This past spring, the provincial government first hinted that such legislative changes would come before the end of the year, and this was reaffirmed to Daily Hive Urbanized last week by BC Minister of Housing Ravi Kahlon when asked.

But it remains to be seen whether the forthcoming legislation will fine tune the issues with existing policies or be an aggressive crackdown on short-term rentals. Recently implemented legislative changes in Quebec and New York City have made short-term rentals highly onerous and costly for property owners and operators, with the effect of practically wiping out the legal short-term rental supply.

In September, the Quebec provincial government’s new tourist accommodation law went into effect, creating fines of up to $100,000 for short-term rental platforms like Airbnb listing properties without a legal government certificate.

Also last month, New York City implemented new short-term rental policies that require property owners to register with the municipal government, with hosts also required to be physically present in the home throughout the duration of the rental — essentially sharing the live space with the paying visitors. As well, bookings with more than two guests at a time are no longer permitted, which eliminates short-term rentals as overnight accommodation options for families.

But the latest local media reports now suggest there is a sizeable black market for short-term rentals in NYC, as a direct result of the new policies.

A recent report estimated that as of June 2023, short-term rentals removed nearly 17,000 homes off the long-term rental market in BC for people who live, work, and study in the province. This represented a 19% increase year-over-year, which led to an average $20 greater increase in monthly rent in the average neighbourhood in a medium or large city.

The surge in short-term rental listings on platforms such as Airbnb and Vrbo is driven not only by the exponentially higher money-making opportunities over monthly rents for residents, but also the growing supply shortage and steep prices of hotel rooms in Metro Vancouver.

As a measure to help address this, in recent weeks, Vancouver City Council approved various directions related to overnight visitor accommodations. This includes hiking the annual short-term rental license fee from $109 to $1,000 starting in 2024, with the new revenue going towards improved communications and enforcement, and catalyzing the development of new hotel projects.

Daily Hive Urbanized will have more coverage on the proposed legislation Monday morning.

ANNOUNCEMENT: BC government reveals new sweeping policies to crack down on short-term rentals

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