Close X
Monday, November 11, 2024
ADVT 
National

B.C. short-term rental restrictions reducing rents, saving tenants millions: study

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 20 Sep, 2024 09:43 AM
  • B.C. short-term rental restrictions reducing rents, saving tenants millions: study

Crackdowns on short-term rentals in British Columbia have effectively reduced rents by 5.7 per cent, saving tenants more than $600 million last year, says a report led by the Canada Research Chair in Urban Governance at McGill University.

That figure is the result of municipal restrictions, in particular requirements that short-term rental units must be located within the operator's principal residence.

In Vancouver, for example, the report says renters are paying an average of $147 less each month than they would have without the city's principal residence rule.

The report, led by research chair David Wachsmuth, says the recent provincewide regulation for communities with more than 10,000 residents has the power to carry similar savings across B.C., helping to ease affordability challenges.

The provincial change took effect in May, requiring listings on platforms such as Airbnb and Vrbo to be located in the operator's principal residence and one secondary suite.

Assuming the provincewide requirements have the same efficacy as existing municipal rules, Wachsmuth's report says tenants in those cities should see rents decline by four per cent, amounting to a total savings of $592 million each year by 2027.

Renters would pay an extra $1 billion within two years if the province's rules were to be repealed after this year, says the report released Wednesday.

That's a finding Premier David Eby's New Democrats are highlighting in a statement a month before B.C.'s election, saying provincial Conservative Leader John Rustad recently told supporters he would reverse the short-term rental restrictions.

The report says the BC Hotel Association commissioned the researchers to provide an early analysis of the province's short-term rental rules. The authors are exclusively responsible for all of the analysis, findings and conclusions, it adds.

The researchers looked at 52 of 55 neighbourhoods across B.C. with a principal residence restriction in place in January 2023. The analysis found rents were an average of $110 lower than they would have been without the rule.

B.C. passed its provincewide short-term rental accommodations law in October 2023 and the government has been phasing in the measures.

Wachsmuth's report report says a registration system with additional "accountability requirements" for listing platforms is expected early next year. 

It says the "full implications" of B.C.'s rules won't become clear until then, when the platforms will be obligated to remove listings without valid licences.

But the report concludes that B.C.'s principal residence restrictions mean average monthly rents will be $94 lower in the fall of 2027 than they otherwise would have been.

The researchers also looked at the number of Airbnb listings before and after the province's principal residence requirement took effect in May. 

They found 13,624 "frequently rented entire homes" in B.C. listed on the platform in June 2023, along with a further 34,665 different kinds of properties.

Of the frequently rented homes, the report says just over 86 per cent were still visible by July 2024. Close to 89 per cent of the other listings were also still visible.

"In general, the more active the listing, the lower chance it was still visible on Airbnb after May 2024," the report notes.

The report says the researchers used public and private data sources to conduct their analysis, as well as a modelling approach that's widely used by economists.

MORE National ARTICLES

House committee launches investigation into purchase of Canada's new $9M condo in NYC

House committee launches investigation into purchase of Canada's new $9M condo in NYC
A House of Commons committee will look into the Liberal government's recent purchase of a $9-million condo in Manhattan for its consul general to New York.  The government operations and estimates committee unanimously agreed today to hold several meetings next month to investigate the purchase. 

House committee launches investigation into purchase of Canada's new $9M condo in NYC

Police identify two women found dead in Vancouver, say deaths aren't connected

Police identify two women found dead in Vancouver, say deaths aren't connected
Police in Vancouver say they have identified the two women whose bodies were found on the shores of English Bay on Sunday and Monday. Sgt. Steve Addison says police now know the women's names and their families have been informed of their deaths.

Police identify two women found dead in Vancouver, say deaths aren't connected

Bracelet thief on the lam

Bracelet thief on the lam
Mounties on Vancouver Island say they're looking for the public's help to find a suspect in a theft investigation after a child's collection of handmade bracelets was stolen from a front porch in Langford. Westshore R-C-M-P say the gemstone bracelets were made for sale by an 11-year-old girl, and were stolen on July 17th off a porch where she had them displayed. 

Bracelet thief on the lam

2 dead in Surrey fires

2 dead in Surrey fires
Police in Surrey say two fires in the city in the last few days have left two people dead in Whalley and Newton. Surrey RCMP say a fire at a home on 112A Avenue on July 20th claimed the life of an 85-year-old woman, but the blaze is not being treated as suspicious. 

2 dead in Surrey fires

B.C. wildfire tally surges as firefighters take to air to battle blazes

B.C. wildfire tally surges as firefighters take to air to battle blazes
The numbers seem ever increasing for British Columbia wildfire statistics, including more than 400 fires, tens of thousands of lightning strikes and at least six homes lost. The homes were in the Venables Valley, and Colton Davies with the Thompson-Nicola Regional District says they were among 20 buildings destroyed by the Shetland Creek wildfire. 

B.C. wildfire tally surges as firefighters take to air to battle blazes

Bank of Canada cuts key interest rate by quarter percentage point to 4.5%

Bank of Canada cuts key interest rate by quarter percentage point to 4.5%
The Bank of Canada cut its key interest rate for a second consecutive time on Wednesday, but warned the path back to two per cent inflation may be uneven and would ultimately determine the pace of future rate cuts. The central bank says its decision to lower its policy rate by a quarter percentage point was motivated by easing price pressures and weakening economic conditions.

Bank of Canada cuts key interest rate by quarter percentage point to 4.5%