Airbnb slams proposed rules for short-term rentals

Online lodging giant says proposals would ‘punish thousands of responsible hosts’

The City of Ottawa is recommending council ban people from using their income properties for shortterm rentals, like those advertised on Airbnb.

The bylaw proposal published Tuesday is bound to create shock waves in Ottawa’s short-term accommodation market, especially among property owners who have invested heavily in income properties used solely for Airbnb rentals. Airbnb isn’t impressed. “Despite widespread feedback from local residents that Ottawa should ensure there is an opportunity for people to host in their homes and secondary residences, city staff have chosen to move forward with a restrictive set of recommendations that will reduce the amount of accommodations available and place unnecessarily onerous requirements on hosts,” Airbnb Canada public policy director Alex Dagg said in a statement.

“These recommendations will only serve to punish the thousands of responsible Ottawa hosts who use Airbnb as a means to support their families and we encourage councillors to listen to the concerns raised by their local community and ask city staff to revise their report.”

Shaking up the status quo in the name of community safety and affordable housing is exactly what many at city hall have wanted to do with new regulations. The city has been worried short-term rental units, which act like hotels, are hurting the long-term rental market when the city’s rental vacancy is below two per cent.

Rideau-Vanier Coun. Mathieu Fleury, whose central ward is a hotbed for short-term rentals, said the city needs strong regulations. He would have preferred a licensing regime, but he said it’s important to at least have a bylaw that clamps down on short-term rentals at income properties where the owners aren’t present.

“Most who do short-term rentals that are not their primary residences don’t understand the level of impact on the community,” Fleury said, pointing to problems with noise, parties and police responses.

Fleury, who chairs the Ottawa

Community Housing board of directors, also emphasized the importance of having a “strong” rental vacancy rate, which could be affected by short-term rentals eating into the market for longterm rentals.

“If you don’t have a rental vacancy, then you can bring in affordability,” Fleury said.

The city recommends developing a bylaw to regulate hosts, agents and advertising platforms.

Platforms such as Airbnb and Expedia would be required to have a Canadian business address that’s not simply a post-office box and provide the city with quarterly data about their registered hosts, the bookings and revenue for each listing. The city is considering charging platforms a flat fee of $4,000 to be registered, although the price hasn’t been finalized.

Agents, such as companies that manage properties for short-term accommodations, would also have to register and provide client information to the city. They would have to pay $200 annually for their registrations.

Hosts, which are usually the people who actually own the properties, would have to acquire a $100 two-year permit from the city and abide by conditions related to insurance and informing guests of police and health service contact information, the presence of surveillance technology and information for Service Ottawa.

No host would be able to hold more than one permit and the permit could be revoked because of criminal activity, unpaid fees or penalties, serious incidents affecting public health and safety and “egregious” or repeated public nuisances. There would be an appeal process for revoked permits. Violations could also come with fines.

All platforms would need to collect the municipal accommodations tax (MAT) and remit the money to the city. Airbnb, like hotels in the Ottawa region, already pays the tax.

The city is recommending council consider increasing the MAT to 4.25 per cent, up from the current four per cent, only if necessary to pay for managing the new regulatory system. The city treasurer is looking into whether the current MAT revenue would be enough to cover the costs.

Under the staff proposal, condo corporations and landlords could register with the city to self-identify where short-term rentals are prohibited under their own rules.

Cottage and vacation homes would get exemptions under the proposed short-term rental regulations. Those owners would still need to get permits, but not provide proof of primary residency and not have occupancy limit requirements. There would also be various exemptions for hotels, motels and bed-and-breakfasts.

A short-term rental enforcement squad would be established for a three-year trial to make sure people involved in the industry follow the proposed rules.

The city is recommending council wait for a Local Planning Appeal Tribunal decision on the City of Toronto, which also wants to limit short-term rentals to primary residences, before going through with the regulations in Ottawa.

The staff recommendations will be considered by the community and protective services committee on Nov. 15 before going to council for approval on Nov. 27. jwilling@postmedia.com twitter.com/JonathanWilling