Thread by @SoniaFurstenau

We’re calling on the @bcndp to immediately regulate the #ShortTermRental industry in order to reduce its effects on the #housingcrisis & improve safety for renters & hosts.

Our call is a 2-pronged approach to improve:

1) Data gathering/sharing.
2) Bylaw enforcement.

1/ #bcpoli

Currently, BC has no system to accurately identify the number or type of housing units in the short-term rental market

Even in municipalities with existing bylaws and business license programs, hundreds if not thousands of units listed on these sites are unlicensed. 2/ #bcpoli

According to Independent watchdog Inside Airbnb there are just under 6,000 listings in Vancouver alone with 82% of them being entire homes or apartments.

And almost 30% of them are unlicensed. 3/ #bcpoli #ShortTermRentals
insideairbnb.com/vancouver/

We have a patchwork of policies across BC and local gov'ts do not have the resources to address this challenge on their own.

Without platform accountability and provincial funding and support to enforce municipal bylaws, regulating STRs and keeping people safe is impossible. 4/

We know gov't is working hard to increase supply, and to allow for density zoning & legal secondary suites.

But w/out meaningful work on the STRs, there is a real risk that as new homes come online, many will become short-term rentals, rather than homes for people. 5/5 #bcpoli