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You have to live on the property you rent, City Hall told Airbnb hosts Tuesday night.
Date Posted:
June 15, 2022 • 19 hours ago • 3 minutes of reading • 12 comments Archive photo
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You have to live on the property you rent, City Hall told Airbnb hosts Tuesday night.
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From October 1, the city council will begin regulating short-term online rentals, including a controversial new rule that limits these to one person’s home. If you want to rent a house on Airbnb or VRBO, you have to live there most of the time.
The decisive 12-2 vote came despite strong opposition from existing Airbnb hosts and additional property owners who were used to generating income through short-term rentals.
“I’m not happy about causing this pain to some people. But… We enact legislation as long as it has effects on people,” Ward 5 Coun said. said Maureen Cassidy.
Coun. Maureen Cassidy (archive photo)
What began as a mission to address the nuisance of the neighborhood when the city council first debated the idea of regulating the industry, including the cluttered parties with a revolving guest door, has since become a bets on dealing with the loss of long-term homes that are being converted. in mini-hotels, several councilors said.
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“It simply came to our notice then. Many, many, many years have passed, “Ward 2 Coun. Lewis said.
Those who bought properties or made a living from so-called “short-term accommodation” did nothing wrong, he said, but began working on “a regulatory gap” and now the rules are being updated. .
City staff confirmed that cities in Ontario have implemented similar rules for Airbnb, such as Toronto, Windsor and Sarnia.
There are more than 600 short-term rental units available in London, according to previous reports from city staff. About two-thirds are a whole house and the rest are a room or unit within a larger property.
Dozens of Airbnb hosts have spoken and written to politicians to protest the main residence rule that would limit all short-term rentals in a person’s home. A secondary unit could be rented, including a basement unit or other property structure, or the entire house could be rented when the owner is out, but investment properties cannot be used.
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Many landlords say they do not oppose the regulation, including other requirements such as licensing their rentals through the town hall or paying the four-percent city accommodation tax (also known as the hotel tax). ). This will start on October 1st along with the other new rules.
Some councilors were not convinced.
Barri 1 Coun. Michael van Holst and Ward 11 Coun. Stephen Turner voted against the statute. Barri 4 Coun. Jesse Helmer declared a conflict as he posted his home on Airbnb while he was away.
Barri 10 Coun. Stephen Turner (Derek Ruttan / The London Free Press)
Turner said the council should take steps to protect communities and consumers, but called the status “unreasonable.”
“I don’t think this measure, by turning it into a class of illegal legal operators, is the right way to do it,” he said.
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Most of these units, even if they were to return to the long-term housing market, would not be offered with affordable rents, which is London’s biggest need, he said.
There seems to be a similar division among Londoners on the subject.
A group of London hosts listing properties on Airbnb said they went personally to inform residents about the tools they have to inform holiday homes through the platform and the town hall.
One host, Adam Wayland, who said he has welcomed hundreds of guests from 27 countries over the past eight years, warned that forcing Airbnb units to become long-term homes will only encourage “absent and poor owners. actors “.
Another writer urged the council to allow additional properties to continue to appear as short-term accommodations, citing the need for a variety of places for travelers to stay with amenities such as kitchens for those with specific dietary needs.
Others want these units to return to the long-term housing market.
“London has many high-end hotels as well as low-end motels for visitors to choose from. Many Londoners have fewer options than those offered to foreign visitors,” Diane Devine wrote in a letter to the council. .
mstacey@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/MeganatLFPress
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