New data shows Vancouver has more than 5,000 properties available for short-term rentals, a total called “worrisome” by the councillor spearheading the city’s efforts to tighten rules for services like Airbnb.
“I think it’s worrisome,” said Coun. Geoff Meggs of the tally of 5,000 short-term accommodations, one of the figures included in a Sunday release from the City of Vancouver. “But I’m not surprised by it.”
“When we have the crisis that we have in housing, we can’t afford to walk past this,” Meggs said Sunday. “We are putting an enormous amount of energy to get new rental (properties) built in the city of Vancouver and requiring it to remain rental for 60 years or the life of the building. And to see that soaked up by tourism is not acceptable. We’re going to that effort so that people can live and work in the city of Vancouver.”
Sunday’s release from the city included early findings from data released by short-term rental companies, and announced that Vancouver has contracted a third-party consulting firm to examine 10 platforms providing accommodation rentals in Vancouver, including Airbnb, VRBO, OwnersDirect and Flipkey. The research is intended, the statement said, “to determine how short-term rentals are affecting the availability of rental housing for families and workers in Vancouver.”
These efforts were instigated by a council motion, moved by Meggs in April. After further analysis, city staff could present recommendations by September that would then be shared with the public for a period of consultation, said Meggs, adding he hopes council could take action by the end of the year.
The top concern, Meggs said, is determining if short-term rentals have any “negative impact on the rental stock,” adding: “We feel the numbers are high enough to indicate there is, and that’s probably driving down vacancy rates and driving up rents.”
The situation is made more acute, Meggs said, by Vancouver’s rental vacancy rate of 0.6 per cent, one of the lowest in Canada.
“We’re in a dire situation for the majority of people who want to live and work here,” Meggs said Sunday. “The cost of buying even a studio condominium is out of reach financially, even if they were available on the market, which they very seldom are. So the only thing the city can functionally do is try to promote rental, which is often affordable for families with incomes between $40,000 and $80,000, and that’s what we’re working on. And to see them soaked up by tourism purposes is not acceptable.”
The city will seek public input with a survey launching Wednesday.
“This is one aspect of the housing crisis which can’t be blamed on foreign ownership,” Meggs said. “These listings are being put there by people who live and work in the city of Vancouver, at the expense of other people who live and work in the city of Vancouver, in many cases.”
