The provincial policy work is based on a November report on short-term rents from the Union of Municipalities in British Columbia, David Abby said.
Attorney General and Minister of Housing David Abby says it makes sense to require companies that promote short-term rentals through online platforms to share information with local authorities.
If such regulation is introduced by the province, such companies will face mandatory reporting requirements to ensure that they share location data – for example – for rents with municipalities.
Local authorities will be able to verify the information against their list of permits for short-term rentals and enforce them, Abby said in an interview.
“The [short-term rental] Unitholders will receive a permit from the city and the city can compare its list of permits with the data provided by the companies to determine which are licensed and which are not, and make the appropriate implementation.
“It makes a lot of sense to me.”
The policy work being carried out by the province was informed by a November report on short-term rents from the Union of Municipalities of British Columbia, Ibbi said. A joint UBCM-provincial advisory group made 13 recommendations for the province to consider, including requiring online platforms to share data.
There are challenges in this work, given that companies can be international and there may be questions about jurisdiction, but “I think we will be successful in the end,” he said.
Short-term rent is a reservation for less than 30 consecutive days. A major homeowner who rents out his entire home can sometimes rent out his entire home on a short-term basis. Stay over 30 days rent is considered long term.
Cities can issue short-term lease licenses and control the program, Ibbi said. But “the challenge they have is that it’s really hard to impose – it requires mostly private detective work from neighbors or bylaws, and they just don’t have the capacity to do that.”
Many short-term rental offers are not licensed by the city and do not disclose their addresses, which is a burden on the city of Victoria when it comes to implementation.
As of Thursday, the city of Victoria has 585 licensed short-term leases or pending approval. The airdna website (airdna.co), which analyzes data on short-term rents, shows a much higher number of short-term rents. It states that there are 1,063 ads available in Victoria, indicating that hundreds are not licensed.
Victoria moved on Thursday to add three employees to her team of four for a short-term rent paid by licensing fees.
The issue of short-term rents is important for neighbors, who may find the activity disruptive. Unlicensed units or houses may not pay the necessary municipal fees to operate, avoiding a fee paid by other commercial operations.
The most important question is how the number of short-term rents, some of which are grouped in multi-family buildings in the city, affects the availability of affordable housing at a time when many residents have difficulty finding a place to live.
Victoria, along with other communities in the province, is facing a housing crisis.
Despite the ongoing multi-family construction in the metropolitan area, many people are desperate to find housing. Social media posts highlight the despair of individuals and families.
In its February rental report, the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation set the percentage of vacancies for Victoria’s rent to the ultra-narrow one. The city has been battling low levels of unemployment for decades.
Victoria Count. Stephen Andrew reiterated calls for provincial rules, insisting that short-term rental websites should publish a copy of a municipal license.
There are hundreds of short-term rental units that could be vacated if removed from this pool, Andrew said.
Andrew said there is nothing wrong with some people wanting to make extra money.
“We are in a housing crisis and we have to deal with it, and that is only part of it.
The province needs to assess the issue, Andrew said. “As much as they are prescribing to plan zoning, they need to be prescribing on this issue and help us ensure that we can open these units to families to live in,” he said.
In February, Eby announced that the province was considering legislation that would take away some of the permitting powers local authorities now have to see more homes built in the province. This may lead to distancing the municipalities from making final decisions on housing permit approvals.
Not enough housing is being approved to meet population growth needs, Abby said, adding that BC may need to be more prescriptive because the status quo is not acceptable.
The housing market in Victoria is so tight that Andrew said there are people who have signed agreements to work for the city, but then had to give up because they could not find a home.
Municipalities in the region must work together to pass similar legislation governing short-term rents, he said. Otherwise, short-term rents will be pushed to neighboring municipalities such as Eskimalt and Saanic.
Ibmy said that during the pandemic, some operators withdrew their short-term rents from the pool.
“We had little relief from the impact of short-term rents on long-term rents, and that was because tourists disappeared and a lot of people turned what used to be short-term rents into long-term rents, and that was a really positive, obvious impact on housing availability.”
He believes that careful control of short-term rents could improve the availability of long-term rental housing.
As for limiting the number of short-term rents, Abby said municipalities are in the best position to make that decision. It will vary according to the city.
“Some cities are many holiday destinations and short-term rents are a key part of their economic strategy,” he said.
“They also have to balance this with housing for workers and the tourism industry, and they are really struggling with that.”
The province has funded municipalities across British Columbia to study housing needs, he said.
cjwilson@timescolonist.com
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