Short-term rental regulations must protect renters and homeowners

HALIFAX -- The NDP is calling for new registration requirements for short-term rentals to be applied to all hosts.

“Short-term rentals like Airbnb are having an effect on Nova Scotia’s housing market. If only some are required to register then people will find a way to avoid it. Quebec has already learned this lesson. Nova Scotia can learn from other jurisdictions’ experiences,” said Lisa Roberts, NDP Housing Spokesperson. “The Liberal plan to only register commercial short-term rentals won’t help alleviate the housing crunch in Nova Scotia or provide useful data to municipalities looking to regulate this activity."

The NDP tabled legislation to regulate short-term rentals in October 2019. In the next sitting of the legislature, the NDP will update the bill to require all units to register, with a nominal fee for those in a host’s primary residence. This will protect renters and people who are using their primary residence to make extra money.

“The rapid increase in short-term rentals without proper regulation is hurting my community. Municipalities, like ours, have planning rules to protect our residents and to facilitate commercial activity. We believe that there are flaws in newly minted provincial legislation that need to be corrected,” said Rachel Bailey, the Mayor of Lunenburg. “We are asking the province to require everyone providing short term accommodation to register.”

“We also need to have clarity between residential and commercial use of a property. We welcome thousands of visitors to Lunenburg every year, and we are happy to have them, but we don’t want them pushing us out of our homes. If a house is used only as a short-term rental, it no longer has a residential use, and is being used as a business. We need provincial regulation to align with our needs as a municipality.”

People across the province are struggling to find affordable places to live. A study from McGill researchers says there are 2,420 active short-term rentals in the Halifax. Between 700 and 800 of these are being used full-time as short-term rentals.