More than 1,000 new Airbnb listings have appeared on the platform within a month of new Airbnb rules came into effect in Vancouver.
The City of Vancouver claimed that the number of listings on Airbnb had fallen from 6,600 in April to 3,742 on September 1, but the scan of the Airbnb website I ran last night shows that the number has crept up to 4,743.
A majority of the listings may be violating City of Vancouver’s short term rental bylaws.
This includes 1,257 duplicate licences, 403 claiming dubious exemptions, 76 obviously fake licenses, and 252 units using invalid or expired licences. Moreover, 2295 units are run by operators who run more than one listing, potentially in breach of the short term rental bylaw.
To meaningfully protect our long term rental market from being decimated by Airbnb and other short term accommodation platforms, we must take the following steps:
- Introduce licence auto-verification, so, we can nip unlicensed units and licence cheats in the bud
- Introduce a tough new bylaw and agreements that hold platforms accountable for the hosts’ actions
- Make Airbnb fines lienable, so that the city can place liens against egregious violators who refuse to pay the fines
At the same time, the City should use fines collected from short term rental violators to help the Airbnb’s greatest victims: the renters.
I believe Vancouver should take care of those who take care of our city and our citizens. I dream of a place where those who contribute to our communities are able to afford to live in the city. I’m running for city councillor to see that dream come true. Please help me by donating and volunteering to my campaign.