The multinational Airbnb will remove all short-term housing rental ads on its platform next Tuesday that do not comply with the regulations in force in Quebec. A decision hailed from all sides, but which will not be sufficient in itself to put an end to the problem of illegal tourist rentals, according to an expert.
This decision by the multinational comes a little more than a week after a fatal fire ravaged, on March 16, a heritage building in Old Montreal where there were short-term rented accommodation on Airbnb-type platforms, in violation of municipal and provincial regulations.
In the wake of this event, which made waves in the National Assembly, the regional director of Airbnb, Nathan Rotman, met on Thursday with the Minister of Tourism, Caroline Proulx. A meeting which seems to have been conclusive, since in a letter addressed to the Minister on Friday and of which The duty obtained a copy, Mr. Rotman undertook to remove “province-wide” existing advertisements that do not include a registration number with the Corporation de l’industrie touristique du Québec (CITQ).
In order to legally rent short-term accommodation on platforms like Airbnb, Quebecers must first ensure that they comply with the municipal regulations in force in their area, then obtain a registration number from the CITQ.
However, thousands of listings on the Airbnb platform do not include this registration number, which is mandatory under the Tourist Accommodation Act. According to the Inside Airbnb site, 92.5% of the approximately 13,900 listings on the Airbnb platform in Montreal are illegal, either because they contravene the regulations put in place by several boroughs which limit the sectors where this type of rental is permitted. , or because they have not obtained the required authorizations from Quebec.
To remedy this, Airbnb is committing to adding “a field requiring a registration number for all new listings” in the province, Rotman’s letter adds. “Hosts who do not fill in this field will have their listings removed,” he assures.
Caroline Proulx “satisfied”
These Airbnb commitments are therefore in line with the regulatory changes that Minister Proulx pledged last Monday to implement in the coming months in order to counter the phenomenon of illegal short-term rentals. However, it should be remembered that several other platforms of this type exist, even if Airbnb is the best known.
“Airbnb’s decision to comply with the law and remove illegal ads from its site was necessary”, reacted Friday on Twitter the mayor of Montreal, Valérie Plante, who believes that this measure was necessary to tackle to the “housing crisis”. “We also invite other platforms to also remove illegal ads,” added the mayor.
Because, “if everyone migrates to another platform, we will end up with the same problem”, notes the spokesperson for the Regroupement des committees logement et associations de tenants du Québec, Cédric Dussault, in an interview with the Duty.
Airbnb’s decision to comply with the law and remove illegal listings from its site was necessary.
This gesture, along with the tightening of rules by the govt. of Qc, were necessary to fight against illegal Airbnb and to alleviate the housing crisis. #polmtl
— Valerie Plante (@Val_Plante) March 24, 2023
In writing, Minister Caroline Proulx for her part said she was “satisfied” with Airbnb’s decision “to comply with our legislation”. “I also ask the other platforms to comply,” adds the Minister, who also retains her intention to “tighten the Tourist Accommodation Act”.
Satisfied with Airbnb’s decision to comply with our legislation as required yesterday during our meeting. I also ask other platforms to comply. However, I remain firm on my intention to tighten the Tourist Accommodation Act. #PolQc
— Caroline Proulx (@caroaubureau) March 24, 2023
“This is good news for the protection of the rental stock. It could even bring back housing that had left the traditional rental market in a context where there is an imbalance between supply and demand, ”also welcomed Friday the Director of Public Affairs of the Corporation of Quebec Real Estate Owners. , Marc-André Plante.
Not the panacea
In a message sent to its hosts on Friday, the multinational informed them that “all short-term rental advertisements without an Airbnb registration number will be deactivated on Tuesday, March 28”.
Hosts who change their settings to only offer rentals of 31 days or more will still be able to keep their listings, even if they have not obtained a registration number from the CITQ. So don’t expect thousands of Airbnb listings to disappear in the coming days, says McGill University urban planning professor David Wachsmuth. The latter contributed in 2021 to a study which reports the conversion in recent years of nearly 5,000 traditional rental units now rented short-term on Airbnb.
“You would think Airbnb could convert all illegal short-term rentals to 31+ days. This is what has been done elsewhere” in recent years, notes Mr. Wachsmuth, citing the cases of Toronto and Los Angeles, where many rentals that were illegal are now offered for 28 days or more. It remains to be seen, he adds, whether these accommodations will really be rented out in the long term on the platform. “It’s hard to be sure,” he said.
In other words, this announcement by Airbnb is “a first step”, but it will have to be followed by other measures on the part of the government so that short-term rental platforms stop contributing to the erosion of the market. rental, summarizes the expert.