City of Vancouver cracks down on 820 short-term rentals

The City of Vancouver is clamping down on more than 800suspected illegalshort-term rental properties after itintroducednew regulations targeting listings onwebsites likeAirbnb.

In the six months since the regulations took effect, the city has takenlegal action against 142 propertiesand flagged hundreds more for investigations and audits. More than 200 violation tickets have been issued.

According to a statementfrom the city, one property owner was fined $20,000 for listing 35 units across two buildings.

Two other operators have pleaded guilty to violations of the rental bylaws and were subsequently fined $2,500 in provincial court.

"The early results of enforcement in the first six months of our new short-term rentals program are encouraging," said Mayor Kennedy Stewart in an official statement.

"This program is one of many designed to move more supply into the long-term rental market, because housing in our city needs to be first and foremost for those who live and work in Vancouver."

'Egregious' property owners

Kathryn Holm, Vancouver's chief licence inspector, said an additional $32,000 has been collected from property owners through paid violation tickets. Tickets generally carry a fine of $1,000.

She said several operators are suspected of running 10or more properties illegally.

"There are a number of consistently egregious operators that continue to persist to operate despite our legal efforts, and we are continuing to focus on those operators and escalate our enforcement action," said Holm.

"We are not stopping.We are actively advancing these files, and our intention is to bring short term rental operators in this city into compliance," said Holm.

More than 2,000 case files have been opened since the city introduced rules requiring homeowners who list their properties on sites like Airbnb to obtaina business licence.

The regulations aim to open up more rental spaces as Vancouverites continue to grapple with a rental vacancy rate below one per cent.

The city introduced its new short-term rental policy April 19, but gave hosts until Aug. 31to get a licence and include it in their listing.