A group of short-term rental property owners in Charlottetown has formed its own association.
The Charlottetown Short Term Rental Association also has a Facebook page up as city council ponders adopting a bylaw by March 2020 that would regulate the properties.
The group held a meeting recently in which 40 to 50 short-term property owners attended. The Guardian approached some of the members for comment, but they’re hesitant to talk to the media, saying “a certain group’’ is blaming them for the current housing crisis to the point where they’ve been attacked on social media.
“You’ve got a group of people like ourselves in Charlottetown who are everyday people, not the wealthiest ... who are doing it legally and we’re licensed,’’ one man, a member of the association and a short-term rental owner, told The Guardian on the condition his name not be published. “We’re trying to do everything right and we’re called greedy and (we’re) attacked to the point where nobody wants to talk to (the media).’’
The man said he and his wife have owned a rental property the past six years. They moved into the downtown looking to reduce their cost of living, choosing to renovate a duplex. They also purchased a small house next door, renting it for the winter while their daughter and her family stay there in the summer.
He said there is an assumption that short-term rental owners are against being regulated which is simply not true.
“Everyone at that meeting is licensed by Tourism P.E.I. Everyone was inspected by Tourism P.E.I. They know what we’re experienced in, what works and (what) doesn’t work. We think short-term rentals should be seen as an economic benefit to Charlottetown. We don’t support the people who are not licensed.’’
He said that, according to Statistics Canada, short-term rental properties contribute $27 million a year into the Island economy, 10 per cent of which goes into the city’s economy. He said there are 270 legally, licensed Airbnb and short-term rental properties in the city.
The man said they recognize there is a housing shortage but points to a couple of factors as the cause — it’s taking the construction industry a while to catch up to the demand and population growth in the city.
“Yes, short-term rentals are a factor but (only) two per cent of properties in Charlottetown are short-term rentals but we are attacked for being the cause of the housing shortage and called greedy.’’
The man said the association would like to see existing short-term rental properties grandfathered in the city’s bylaw and that the city not permit new builds to be permitted to act as short-term rental properties.
And, he cited one approach Niagara-On-The-Lake in Ontario has taken, taking the owner-occupied approach, at least for a period of time.
“The affordable housing problem is as much (about) the cost of housing as it is the availability because people’s salaries haven’t grown as fast as housing costs and taxes. The answer to affordable housing is to build affordable housing. What we’re doing is good for the city and we don’t intend it to be a negative for anybody. We recognize there is a housing crisis but we don’t think it’s our fault.’’
