Some thoughts on Airbnb
Lucky to travel, we’ve had a few experiences pro and con lodging with Airbnb in the last few years.
In Italy, we got a drive to the airport in Pisa from a kind property owner, but in Bordeaux, France we were flummoxed to encounter a rental unit without sheets on the bed.
When we complained, the property manager stated that they indicated exactly what was offered on the website. What North Americans travel with fresh sheets?
In Ottawa and Mahone Bay, we had only positive experiences. The attractive aspect of Airbnb is having your own temporary place with cooking facilities at a decent price. Lately Airbnb has been in this region’s news a lot.
In Charlottetown, PEI they have a problem keeping young adults home on the farm — so to speak. They even have a Youth Retention Advisory Board, which has indicated short-term rentals like Airbnb are sidelining the kind of accommodation needed for youth.
In Wolfville, I’ve heard that there are something like 60-plus Airbnb units that are taking rentals away from university students and seniors. One individual in the tourism field told me property owners earn more renting during the tourist season than from year-round rentals. I even know someone who rented out her backyard to visitors with tents on Airbnb and they turned up.
In April, the City of Vancouver announced it was moving to ban all Airbnb and short-term rentals in secondary homes in the city. Mayor Gregor Robertson told Global News they expect about 1,000 rental units in non-principal homes will be returned to the market.
Meanwhile, a seven-bedroom, eight-bathroom house in Burnaby, B.C., which sold last year for $2.6 million, has some of the neighbours upset as each bedroom is listed on Airbnb. One mother told the Vancouver Courier she’s afraid to let her daughter cross the street with so many strangers coming and going and partying.
On July 1, Toronto City Council passed some new rules to crack down on short-term rentals in basement suites. Only principal residences can be listed on Airbnb. Toronto has a vacancy rate of less than one per cent.
The nation’s capital has added a four per cent accommodation tax to all Ottawa listings by the popular home rental company. Airbnb has some 350 tax agreements already with governments around the world. With 2,700 active Airbnb hosts in the city, revenues of more than $300,000 are anticipated.
In this part of Canada, none of the Atlantic provinces have regulations to deal with Airbnb-style accommodations that are part of the home-sharing economy.
While zoning in the subdivisions of New Minas do not apparently allow for Airbnb-type short-term rentals, I heard from an incensed homeowner recently with something like three bedrooms listed in the house across the street. I found the listing, which is slated as being in Wolfville – New Minas.
I was told the traffic, including trucks, was drastically changing the atmosphere in the neighbourhood. What to do, I was asked. Let me tell you, Airbnb isn’t easy to contact if you want to complain, so I suggested reaching out to local government.
Airbnb had income last year in the realm of $93 million. With listings in about 65 countries worldwide, it is said to have 150 million users and more than 640,000 hosts. It should behoove this popular service to ‘accommodate’ towns and cities with some taxation revenue and a definite veto on disrupting neighbourhoods.