A new provincial bill in British Columbia aims to regulate the saturated short-term rental market and convert more units into long-term housing for residents.
On Monday, the province’s NDP government introduced a new law targeting popular online platforms that offer short-term rental services, such as Airbnb. The bill increase fines for those who use homes primarily as short-term rental properties.
According to the government, the short-term rental market in B.C. has reached a record high, with about 28,000 active listings per day, a 20% increase from last year.
“There is no question, in British Columbia short-term rentals have gotten out of control,” said British Columbia Premier David Eby.
“Thousands of homes that used to be available to buy or rent are now off the market and people who are looking for a decent place to live are struggling more than ever.”
More than 16,000 of these listings are entire homes that are rented out for a majority of the year, reducing the supply of long-term rental housing for those in need.
The bill, known as the Short-Term Accommodations Act proposes to limit the number of days that an entire home can be rented out as a short-term rental to 180 days per year, unless it is a principal residence or has a special exemption.
It also proposes to prohibit online platforms from listing units that are subject to a residential tenancy agreement or are part of a social housing program. A move which the government argues will return more short-term rentals to long-term homes.
The bill also proposes to increase fines and provide better tools for local governments to deal with a high amount of short-term rental properties.
Under the act, penalties for operators who violate local bylaws would be increased and online platforms will be required to share data with the province and local governments to facilitate enforcement and tax auditing.
The bill would also mandate online platforms to display business licence numbers on listings where required by local governments and to remove non-compliant listings promptly.
Furthermore, it establishes more provincial rules and enforcement around short-term rentals. The bill would create a provincial registry for short-term rental operators and require them to obtain a registration number from the province.
The province will also have the authority to inspect and investigate operators and online platforms for compliance and to impose administrative penalties for non-compliance.
The government says the bill is intended to balance the interests of short-term rental operators, guests, neighbours and communities, while addressing the housing affordability crisis in B.C.
