How much sharing is going on via Airbnb in Vancouver? And what is the effect on Vancouver rental stock?
Shockingly, there are numbers available to help us understand this part of the newly-emerging sharing economy. Via Travis Lupick in the Georgia Straight.
According to online information obtained on December 3, there were 4,728 Airbnb listings for the city.
Of those, 3,179, or 67 percent, were for an entire place; 1,399, or 30 percent, were for a private room; and 150, or three percent, were for a shared room.
The data was collected and made available by Inside Airbnb, a website run by New York–based photojournalist Murray Cox. . . .
Cox’s study also found that of those 3,179 Vancouver listings for an entire place, 76 percent or 2,408 units fall into a “high availability” category, meaning they are available to rent for more than 90 days per year.
“Entire homes or apartments highly available year-round for tourists probably don’t have the owner present, could be illegal, and, more importantly, are displacing residents,” the website states.
Airbnb is like a virus. There are several units that have been posted and rented in my building, despite strata and city bylaws against the practice. Airbnb itself refuses to aid in any way by either identifying the culprits or taking down listings for which, in the comments, the owners even acknowledge that their units are illegal.
In addition, realtors have an obligation to prevent this. They may even be at risk of losing their license for encouraging the sale of units for this purpose. It’s laid out very clearly in strata bylaws.
Ultimately I want to live in something of a neighbourhood, not a hotel.
From looking at the AirBnB site, it looks like there are 4 – 5 (possibly more) units in our strata. Out bylaws allow minimum one year rentals only, so any AirBnB rentals are in violation. Our strata council is looking improving our bylaws to better deal with these types of rentals.
I’m curious as to your supposition that realtors have an obligation regarding rentals in strata buildings. Are you sure a sellers’ agent is required to read any bylaws and describe them in any listing documentation?
As far as I understand it, a buyers’ agent can request documentation from the Strata council, as well as do research at the Land Title Office regarding specific bylaws but this is not all necessarily routine or required.
Sorry, Eric, I shouldn’t have stated that with such certainty. A broker told me that the selling realtor could be in trouble if they knowingly sold a unit where such rentals are prohibited, to someone who was explicitly buying it for an Airbnb rental.
Chris; Thank you for your reply. If a selling realtor explicitly says that a unit is available for short term rentals, or any form of rental, knowing that the bylaws of the Strata would not allow this, then that realtor certainly should be sanctioned. But, would they? For any sanction to have any weight the communications would probably have to be in writing.
Realtor “punishment” is a joke anyway. Wasn’t there a news thing recently where some realtor was doing some sort of fraud? The real estate association spent several months investigating (it was a big fraud or whatever). Guilty verdict. Punishment was a two week license suspension.
Hotels take up land locals could be living on. Ban hotels!
And offices and industrial uses while we’re at it!
More seriously, this is such a tempest in a teapot. If people are concerned about a shortage of housing (as they should be), land use policy that prevents significantly more units from even being constructed is a better target than Airbnb.
Well said.
It’s not a “tempest in a teapot” if you are living in a building that is slowly turning into a hotel, with strangers constantly in the building; a potential, if small, security risk (I assume Airbnb clients are cleared somehow?); and diminishing sense of neighbourhood.
Strangers in the building is a small risk, but you have locks on your own door for a reason – it’s not like you can trust everyone else who lives in the building.
Also, “diminishing sense of neighbourhood”? There are actual hotels in my urban neighbourhood and it’s still a very nice place. I don’t have any desire to keep visitors out, and it’s not exactly hospitable of you to suggest that we should.
“Diminishing sense of neighbourhood” in the sense of having actual neighbours: i.e., long-term renters or owners. My building would still be “nice,” arguably, and I’d meet interesting people from all over the world via Airbnb, but there’s something about having people who you see from day to day, and year to year, that’s desirable—at least for me.
We’ve had some problems in our building. Someone is renting their place out against strata rules, but the only thing strata can do is fine them. And, it’s hard to prove they’re not just “friends” staying there. The problem has been noise. People come in drunk and yelling, then pump the music all night. Thankfully, I’m on the other side of the building, so it’s not affecting me personally. But, yeah, there are some problems with AirBnB rentals. Not everyone is as nice as you might be. It probably depends on the building/neighbourhood that you’re in too that attracts different types of renters.
Strata Councils can levy a fine of $500 per week for illegal rentals.
Eric—can you give me a source for that amount? We’re currently fining far less than that.
There’s reference here. I also have seen it, I believe, on the CHOA web site.
http://www.housing.gov.bc.ca/pub/stratapdf/Guide15.pdf
Chris – Short term rentals (Airbnb) are something the Strata Act does not clearly address. With the huge popularity of Airbnb specific amendments to the Act might well be anticipated.
Zoning restrictions might have more legal weight than attempting to define short term paying visitors as “tenants” as described in the Act.
A lawyer might be needed for more accurate advice.
However, many stratas have restrictions on short term rentals. Our bylaws require that rentals must be minimum one year, so we are covered. However, our strata wants to tighten up even more, so that the fines can be higher. Any strata should be looking at minimum rental periods to cover AirBnB rentals, so a minimum one month rental should cover most AirBnB rentals. Also, I think a strata would want to make sure that renting out a room for AirBnB is also not allowed, so wording is key. As Eric suggested, might be best to consult a lawyer.
Based on the law, and if a strata sets their fines to the maximum, a person using their until as an AirBnB can be fined $500 every week, so at $2,000 per month, that is a huge disincentive to rent out a unit.