Airbnb hosts fear looming regulation
City mulling regulation requiring hosts to live in properties they rent short term
Alexander Yeuchyk fears city hall is on the cusp of wiping out his rental income from units he advertises on Airbnb.
“I have never been more frustrated in my life,” Yeuchyk said Monday from a Lowertown house as he took a break from renovating a fifth unit he wants to make available on the online rental platform.
“I’ve lost sleep. I feel very, very insecure. Sincerely, I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Yeuchyk invested in the units when there had been few municipal regulations on short-term rental accommodations, but now his venture is becoming financially risky.
City staff on Monday were putting the final touches on a report that will include recommendations on how to regulate Ottawa’s short-term accommodation industry. The community and protective services committee will dedicate a meeting to debating the report before voting and sending recommendations to council. The committee meeting Nov. 15 will invite public deputations.
One of the options available to the city is prohibiting landowners in residential zones from making their properties available for short-term renters unless the landowners actually live at the homes. It would have a massive effect on people such as Yeuchyk, who have purchased homes as income properties.
A consultant hired by the city to help with a study has told staff they should consider the restriction in their recommendations to council.
Coun. Keith Egli, the vice-chair of the community and protective services committee, said he wants to see the city give more “rigour” to regulations on short-term rentals. If the city only allowed short-term rentals at owner-occupied homes, then those owners would “have skin in the game” and more control over the rental clients, Egli said.
Advocates for a strong regulatory system also hope more units would be available for long-term rentals and make homes more affordable. Ottawa’s vacancy rate in 2018 was 1.6 per cent.
Data collected by the city and its consultants show there were 6,278 short-term accommodation listings in Ottawa in 2018 and 1,236 of those listings were for entire residences for 120 days or more in the year.
Airbnb is the most cited shortterm accommodation platform because of its immense popularity. Like hotels in the Ottawa region, Airbnb pays a municipal accommodations tax. However, there are other web services also promoting short-term rentals and facilitating transactions between property owners and clients.
Yeuchyk said he prefers to rent his properties for shorter terms because he has more control over who’s in his units. In his experience, he believes people who lock in on a long-term lease aren’t as responsible as those looking for short-term stays. He said he has a good relationship with the neighbours of his rental units and he doesn’t consider himself an absentee landowner since he visits the properties every day. He doesn’t think horror stories involving short-term rentals, like those including out-of-control parties, should prompt the city to clamp down on decent hosts.
If the city bans landowners from making short-term rentals available in units they don’t occupy, it would remove a large number of responsible landlords who take pride in finding the most appropriate clients, Yeuchyk said.
“They are going to eradicate a pool of hosts that has the experience,” Yeuchyk said.
Scott Clement, co-founder of Breathebnb Vacation Rental Management, said strong regulations could have a “huge effect” on property hosts and property managers.
About 90 per cent of the nearly 100 properties managed by Breathebnb are occupied by the owner, Clement said. Roughly three-quarters of the properties in the company’s portfolio are in Ottawa, he said.
Clement thinks the city still doesn’t have enough data to impose new regulations on the shortterm accommodation industry, especially when it comes to knowing how many of the short-term rentals would actually be converted into long-term rentals.
The city also shouldn’t overlook the jobs created by short-term accommodations, Clement said. His company has a housekeeping staff of 40, including refugees and people with disabilities.
There are other cleaning services that market directly to Airbnb hosts, like Delit-Z Airbnb, which has been owned by Olga Hedz for the last two years.
Hedz estimated she makes 90 per cent of her cleaning business revenue off Airbnb hosts. She has 10 clients who require her cleaning services daily.
“It’s significant and it’s my main income,” Hedz said.
Back in Lowertown, Yeuchyk said he’s been renovating an 1864 house with hopes of giving Ottawa visitors a unique experience. He’s been researching the past owners and has plans to make a historic book to educate renters about the property and the community.
Now he wonders if his rental properties will need to become available to long-term tenants rather than the quick-turnover clients with whom he would rather do business.
“I’m someone who invested time and everything I had into this opportunity,” Yeuchyk said. “It’s not very lucrative, but it allows you to live.”