LANGLEY, BC: New short-term rental rules are set to come into force on May 1, 2024, with the Province releasing additional information to guide hosts, platforms and visitors through the changes.
The BC NDP tabled the legislation in October of last year which, once in effect, aims to return short-term rentals to the long-term rental market.
“The effect of short-term rental apps like Airbnb, VRBO and others has been the loss of thousands of long-term rental homes amid a housing crisis, driving up the cost of housing for British Columbians,” said BC Premier David Eby. “The new rules are aimed at reining-in the growing short-term rental market that is taking homes off the market and away from people in B.C. Analysis from short-term rental data analytics company AirDNA, from March 2024, shows that more than 19,000 entire homes in B.C. are being listed as short-term rentals for the majority of a calendar year. Data from a McGill University professor about short-term rentals in B.C. also shows in June 2023 that the top 10% of hosts earn nearly half of all revenue,” said
The new rules that will take effect May 1, 2024, are:
The Principal Residence Requirement, meaning short-term rentals can only be offered in the principal residence of a host, plus one additional unit, secondary suite or laneway home/garden suite on the property in communities where populations are greater than 10,000 people.
The Principal Residence Requirement will function as a province-wide floor for communities with populations over 10,000 people, but local governments will still be able to use existing bylaws and introduce additional bylaws that are more restrictive.
The Principal Residence Requirement will come into effect in more than 60 communities throughout B.C.
Strata hotels and motels that have been operating in a manner similar to a hotel or motel before Dec. 8, 2023, and that meet select criteria moving forward, will be exempt from the Principal Residence Requirement.
Non-conforming use of property will no longer apply to short-term rentals. Under previous legal non-conforming use protections, if an existing use of land or a building did not conform to the new bylaw, it would have generally continued with legal non-conforming use.
Short-term rental hosts will be required to display a valid business licence number on their listing, where a business licence is required by a local government.
Short-Term Rental platforms will be required to share data with the Province.
Local governments can request that a platform remove listings that do not display a valid business licence.
In addition to the short-term rental rules going into effect, 17 communities initially exempt from the legislation have now requested to opt-in to the Principal Residence Requirement. For those communities, the new short-term rental rules will take effect on Nov. 1, 2024.
A first-of-its-kind in Canada, the Short-Term Rental Data Portal has been created to support local governments with monitoring and enforcement of short-term rental regulations and will allow local governments to have the platform companies remove listings that do not comply.
The Provincial Short-Term Rental Compliance Enforcement Unit, which will be phased-in beginning May 1, will also be able to conduct investigations into alleged non-compliance which may result in administrative monetary penalties and compliance orders. Administrative penalties for hosts breaking the rules can range from $500 – $5,000 per day, per infraction and up to $10,000 per day for corporations depending on the infraction. Visitors and guests will not face any fines. The Unit will also facilitate data sharing and requests to Platforms to remove listing.
Visitors with stays booked after May 1, 2024, at short-term rentals are encouraged to check with their host directly to confirm the host is complying with their local government regulations and with B.C.’s new short-term rental rules.
Full requirements for hosts and platforms to comply with the new rules have also been released and are available in Backgrounder 1 and at gov.bc.ca/ShortTermRentals
