Province moves to squeeze a little Airbnb out of the housing market

The long arm of the law is reaching for short-term rentals.

Expressing the concern that short-term rentals are exacerbating B.C.’s housing affordability crisis, the province announced Monday that property owners who host through sites like Airbnb and Expedia could be subject to new regulations and steeper fines.

Short-term rental hosts who violate municipal bylaws could face fines as high as $3,000 per infraction per day – triple the previous maximum fine, according to the province’s technical briefing.

There are also about 28,000 daily active short-term rentals listings in B.C., an increase of 20 percent from last year, according to the province. Approximately 16,000 entire homes are being used as short-term rentals for the majority of the year in B.C.

The new rules would restrict short-term rentals to the landlord’s principal residence as well as one secondary suite or accessory dwelling unit, which would be on the same property but with its own bedroom, kitchen and washroom.

“The number of short-term rentals in B.C. has ballooned in recent years, removing thousands of long-term homes from the market,” Premier David Eby stated in a release.

That increase is particularly acute in the Tri-Cities, where the number of property owners offering short-term rentals rose 45 percent in one year, including an 84 percent jump in Port Moody.

Researchers found 12 Vancouver Airbnb hosts with 30 with at least 30 listings including one landlord with 123 short-term rental listings.

In Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam, short-term rental operations are limited to a portion of an existing residential unit.

Port Moody, on the other hand, does not regulate the term ‘short-term rental’ and has nothing in place that would restrict whole apartment or home rentals.

Speaking to the Dispatch earlier this year, Aaron Hilgerdenaar, manager of bylaw enforcement in Coquitlam, acknowledged there may be instances of businesses operating without a licence, but noted they could be subject to fines.

In an effort to remove some of the ambiguity from the market, the province is set to establish a short-term rental registry. Short-term rental landlords will be required to include a provincial registration number on their listing.

The registry is intended to ensure landlords are following the rules and that local governments know who’s operating in the community.

Platforms like Airbnb would have to share data with the province and remove listings that violate the rules.

Speaking to CBC, Airbnb policy manager Alex Howell said the new rules will hurt B.C. tourism and “take money out of the pockets of British Columbians” without assuaging the housing affordability crisis.

The new rules around the principal residence requirement are expected to come into effect May 1, 2024.

Municipalities with a vacancy rate of more than three percent will be able to ask for an exemption from the principal residence requirement, according to the province.

According to 2022 data from the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation, the Tri-Cities has a vacancy rate of approximately 0.7 percent.