Recently, bylaws were passed in Toronto to limit the activity of homeowners who list their homes or rooms for rent. The intent is to bring more long term rental options back on the market for those seeking housing. Currently, Toronto faces extremely low vacancy of 1.1%, which is significantly below what is considered a healthy vacancy rate of 3%.
To accomplish a rebalancing of supply and demand of housing, operators will have to live at the homes they list online and they can only list three bedrooms at a time. Toronto’s mayor, John Tory, expressed a sense of relief that they were able to get the bylaws passed. Tory states, “This is good news for Toronto residents and a step in the right direction when it comes to regulating short-term rentals and keeping our neighbourhoods liveable.”
Meanwhile, across the pond in Paris, the mayor has shown increasing frustration with the effects of Airbnb on the city. Anne Hidalgo has seen housing shortages and rising rent prices that impact the middle class. She is intent on reigning in on Airbnb’s activity. Paris is one of the company’s biggest markets with an estimated 60,000 listings, up from just 4,000 in 2012.
Hidalgo states, “By removing a significant number of lodgings from Paris, Airbnb contributes to rising rents and worsens the shortage of apartments on the rental market, at a cost for all Parisians, in particular the middle class.” She also points to Airbnb for “destabilising local businesses and competing harshly with traditional hotels”.
Airbnb continues to experience heavy demand from consumers and to date has been able to supply that demand, however, going forward regulations may reign in their activity.
