THE STORY CONTINUES UNDER THESE SALTWIRE VIDEOS
With the proposed restrictions on short-term rentals – mainly AirBnB listings – the idea is that hundreds of units will come back on the market for people who live here.
Currently, there are approximately 1,000 Airbnb listings for human resource management.
On Tuesday, councilors got their first look at proposed changes to the regulations and planning strategy that would put guardrails on short-term rentals in HRM.
Some residents are complaining that their entire street has been taken up with Airbnb rentals, the councilor said. Waye Mason (Halifax South Downtown), and in another case, units in an apartment building on Queen Street have been emptied to make way for Airbnbs.
“So we were losing housing to allow that in a meaningful way,” he said at a Halifax Regional Council meeting on Tuesday.
“I know it will be a pain for tourism and I know it’s not without impact on that side, but I think a housing crisis is acute.
“It’s a way for the residential (units) to remain available for rent for the people who live here.”
The issue of short-term rental restrictions was raised at a committee in 2019, then in September 2020 the board asked staff to draft amendments. Municipality land use regulations are not specifically tailored to short-term rentals and vary in some areas of the regional plan, and it can be very difficult to prove the presence of an illegal short-term rental.
These changes affect all of HRM, but staff said more work needs to be done to account for differences in rural areas. They will also take a deeper look at environmental impacts, particularly on sensitive ecological areas in rural areas and temporary structures like tents and yurts, which is a growing concern.
There are two types of short-term rentals: renting the entire unit or renting a room inside the unit.
Staff said the proposed restrictions on short-term rentals prioritized protecting long-term housing supply and affordability, while taking into account the tourism sector:
• in residential areas, short-term rentals would be limited to a host’s main residence.
• In commercial and mixed-use areas, short-term rentals would be permitted outside of a primary residence, and staff say they will monitor any multi-unit building that moves to short-term rental and return to council for other arrangements if necessary.
• there will also be a provision for short-term rental of single rooms to separate parties, which will replace the bed and breakfast approach.
• Existing rules on parking, room limits and maximum signage requirements for bed and breakfasts will be extended to short-term room rentals.
Staff were also reviewing a register of short-term rentals, but the province got there first. In April, the province passed Bill 154 – Amendments to the Tourist Accommodation Registration Act, which include the obligation to register annually. These changes come into effect in April 2023. The province has agreed to release registry data to municipalities to comply with local regulations.
What about the backyard suites?
Some advisers have asked why the rear suites cannot be used for short-term rentals. Jill MacLellan, Senior Planner, said rear suites were permitted in 2020 for the ‘soft density’ and intended only for long-term rental.
Mason said many landlords could use rental income from back suites and asked for an additional report on the matter.
He wasn’t the only one asking for more information.
Deputy Mayor Sam Austin (Dartmouth Centre) requested another report on an enforcement approach, the staffing requirements that would be needed and funding options. Since the province registers these rentals, that’s up to them, but Austin said he suspects enforcement will ultimately be left to the municipality.
Turn it off for more information.
Advisors need a lot more information, the advisor said. Shawn Cleary (Halifax West Armdale). He proposed postponing the first reading of the changes until staff can come back with better data on the number of short-term rentals that would not comply with the proposed changes, an estimate of the number of units that will be converted in long-term housing rentals, extensive consultation with the tourism industry on areas, and more.
“I think a lot of us would like to better understand what the impact will be,” Cleary said. “So we have an idea of how we would do it, but we don’t know what the outcome would be if we did that.”
Cleary said it could be a big hit for local tour operators. Based on its consultations, the 2,000 short-term rentals reported in August represent approximately 20% of rooms in HRM, which equates to $250 million in economic activity for the tourism industry.
He said it could be a one-time little swipe to ease the housing crisis and it probably won’t help much “because our housing crisis is bigger than a few hundred units, a thousand units or even 1,500 units.”
He attached a deadline to his postponement, that staff report the proposed changes, along with more information, by April 1.
Some councilors argued there was an urgent need to get things done while others said there was time because the province’s rules don’t come into effect until April.
“I have 0.4% vacancies in District Seven, so I can’t not support that,” Mason said. “A hundred units back on the market is a hundred units back on the market.”
The postponement vote to April passed 10-6.
Some short-term rental statistics:
According to the staff report:
- HRM short-term rental hosts earned an estimated $31.7 million between Jan. 1 and Aug. 1. As of December 31, 2022, most of them were in apartments, condos or lofts.
- 81% are listings of entire dwelling units (instead of listings of rooms).
- In Halifax, there were 2,287 active listings in August 2019, compared to 2,006 in 2022.
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