Has B.C.'s short-term rental crackdown made housing cheaper?

Marv Gandall says surviving successful 1 of Victoria's largest residential buildings a twelvemonth agone meant a parade of radical with suitcases, stuffed visitors parking and dilatory elevators. 

Gandall, who has lived successful the Era connected Yates analyzable for a decade, described agelong waits, packages going missing and scratched walls from the precocious fig of visitors utilizing immoderate of its 157 units arsenic short-term rentals. 

He said residents began to telephone their gathering a "ghost hotel."

"The large interest was the disruption, the attraction issues and the contented of theft. We did person much predominant break-ins successful our retention lockers," helium said.

"There was immoderate vandalism successful the parkade, and we deliberation that was besides due to the fact that erstwhile you person short-term renters, it's overmuch easier for short-term renters to person different radical entree the building."

In the twelvemonth since British Columbia implemented regulations cracking down connected short-term rentals, Gandall said things had improved, and it appeared much Era units were being utilized agelong term. But it hasn't wholly prevented radical from trying to dodge the rules.

"My content is that since the transition of the provincial authorities past May, coupled with immoderate initiatives by the section metropolis council, determination has been a dip successful the noticeable (short-term rental) activity, not lone astatine the Era, but besides erstwhile I've spoken to different acrophobic residents successful immoderate of the different large highrises," helium said. 

Housing curate declares victory. Experts pass it's not that simple

The regulations that came into effect connected May 1, 2024, screen astir communities of much than 10,000 people. They restrict short-term rentals to main residences, a secondary suite oregon a operation similar a laneway location connected the property.

B.C. Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon is declaring victory, pointing to dropping rents and thousands of units being removed from websites similar Airbnb and VRBO. But experts accidental marketplace forces are excessively analyzable to recognition 1 origin for the changes.

Kahlon said thousands of properties that utilized to beryllium connected short-term-rental websites are present connected the marketplace oregon being utilized arsenic semipermanent rentals.

"All my colleagues person stories from their communities of radical that are moving into what utilized to beryllium a short-term rental and is present disposable for families agelong term," the curate said successful an interrogation earlier this month.

"And we're seeing rents travel down crossed the province, successful each community."

Property owners person until May 1 to adhd their properties to a provincewide registry successful bid to beryllium capable to legally usage them for short-term rental.

Kahlon said astir 15,000 properties were connected the registry astatine the opening of April, and his bureau reported much than $3 cardinal had been collected successful registration fees.

"Before the registry was launched, we estimated astir astir 22,000 short-term rentals were connected the antithetic platforms. We person 15,000 that are registered to date, truthful that we [have] about 7,000 operators that either haven't applied oregon possibly person decided not to enactment successful the concern of short-term rental operating. So that's significant," helium said.

Hosts who bash not registry their properties volition person their listings taken down starting May 1, and person aboriginal bookings cancelled starting June 1.

WATCH | Months aft restrictions were brought in, study said rules were doing what they were designed to: 

Data provided by the Ministry of Housing shows that from May 2024 to February 2025, galore communities saw a important driblet successful the fig of full properties listed connected short-term rental sites.

The ministry says specified listings successful the City of Kelowna dropped 31 per cent, portion those in Victoria dropped 24 per cent and Vancouver listings dropped 22 per cent.

The communities besides saw an summation successful vacancy rates from 2023 to 2024, according to the data.

Some rents fall, but not everywhere

Numbers published by the website rental.ca show the mean rent in B.C. was down 0.6 per cent year-over-year successful March, based connected listings posted connected the site, while Vancouver saw a 5.7 per cent drop. It was the 16th consecutive diminution successful flat rents successful the city, which has had assorted short-term rental rules since 2018, though it remains the astir costly spot successful Canada to rent.

The website's monthly study says mean asking rents successful Canada fell 2.8 per cent to $2,119 successful March. Rent for apartments successful Toronto was down 6.9 per cent, the 14th consecutive diminution successful the city, which besides precocious implemented restrictions connected short-term rentals.

But it hasn't been one-way movement. Rent in Victoria was up 3 per cent successful March. And successful February, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation forecast that while B.C. would spot higher vacancy rates implicit the adjacent fewer years owed to little colonisation growth, mean rents would emergence arsenic much new, higher-priced units travel to market.

The corporation's astir caller rental marketplace report, for autumn 2024, said average Vancouver rent for a two-bedroom flat was up 5.5 per cent successful October from a twelvemonth earlier, though that complaint of maturation had slowed.

Andy Yan, manager of the City Program astatine Simon Fraser University, said portion immoderate information suggests rent and condo prices person gone down, determination are excessively galore competing factors to beryllium capable to specifically recognition the short-term rental rules.

Other factors could see involvement rates, the wide economical situation, oregon changes successful immigration, helium said.

"There's a batch of sound trying to fig retired what the awesome looks like. And I deliberation that that's the large challenge, truly trying to filter done what has happened successful the 1 twelvemonth since B.C. adopted the short-term rental laws," helium said.

Will Gladman, with the Vancouver Tenants Union, said its members haven't been reporting rent decreases, but alternatively "quite reliably" are being deed with increases.

He said adjacent if immoderate numbers suggest rents are dropping slightly, the outgo to unrecorded successful the metropolis remains precise high.

"[It's] still unbelievably costly and mode retired of reach, adjacent for radical making a beauteous decent income successful the city," helium said.

Gladman said the radical didn't expect the changes to short-term rentals to marque a important difference, though they are successful favour of immoderate improvements that don't impact displacing radical from their homes.

"Those were units that, from our perspective, were wasted and are present becoming homes for people. So obviously, that's positive," helium said.

"But erstwhile you person a provincial authorities that is trying to trust connected these kinds of supply-side tweaks, and nevertheless to trust connected the marketplace to supply immoderate benignant of an affordable lodging strategy, we would ne'er expect it to spell precise far."

Brendon Ogmundson, main economist for the B.C. Real Estate Association, said portion the government's extremity of expanding lodging proviso is understandable, the rules whitethorn person done much harm than bully overall, considering the interaction connected tourism.

He said decreases successful rents person much to bash with factors similar caller units hitting the marketplace and colonisation maturation falling, peculiarly among groups with precocious request for rentals, specified arsenic planetary students and impermanent overseas workers.

"[It's] hard to find however overmuch of an interaction [the caller instrumentality has had]. My conjecture is beauteous small. It's surely impacting things successful tourism. It's a batch much costly to get a edifice now in a batch of areas. There's not a batch of choice. But I don't deliberation it's had a large interaction connected things similar rental affordability," helium said.

In Victoria, Gandall disquieted that arsenic edifice prices climbed, the authorities whitethorn beryllium tempted to rotation backmost immoderate short-term rental rules.

In an interrogation this week with CHEK News, B.C. Premier David Eby said erstwhile the state gets "back to steadfast rental levels successful communities," the authorities would trim restrictions connected short-term rentals. 

Gandall said Airbnbs inactive tally successful his building. He besides suspects not everyone is being honorable erstwhile they assertion a portion arsenic their superior residence.

But Kahlon said the authorities goes done a lengthy process to corroborate whether a short-term rental qualifies.

The curate said determination volition ever beryllium radical looking for ways to interruption the rules, but that the fines — $5,000 a time for those who are caught — are a important deterrent.

"I deliberation that we're going to spot different provinces that are going to determination down the aforesaid absorption arsenic us," helium said.

"And we're proceeding from our section authorities partners successful peculiar that this strategy is moving overmuch amended successful their communities, and we're going to proceed down this way due to the fact that it's the close happening to bash to guarantee radical person entree to affordable lodging successful our communities."