BC United calls for short-term rental exemption from premier

The BC United party is calling on Premier David Eby to exempt short-term rentals from a housing-related act that limits their operations, to protect tourism-dependent communities.

“BC United is proposing amendments to the NDP’s legislation that would allow lawfully operating short-term rentals to continue,” the caucus said in a statement.

“This bill will provide some hope to municipalities like Parksville, Victoria, Kelowna, Penticton, and Vernon, which have designated tourism zones heavily reliant on legally operating purpose-built short-term accommodations.”

However, the province says it is facing a “housing crisis” and short-term rentals of entire homes are “taking away much needed homes for British Columbians” and it needs to regulate short-term rentals

“Data shows that more than 16,000 homes are being used as short-term rentals for the majority of the year in B.C. This is making it more challenging to find affordable long-term rentals,” the province says in its housing act.

As of May 2024, the Province is implementing a “principal residence requirement” and requiring a “business license to be displayed on platforms” for short-term rentals, in certain areas of B.C.

However, BC United Shadow Minister for Housing Karin Kirkpatrick is not on board with these changes.

She introduced a bill in the legislature that would allow short-term rentals to continue operating lawfully.

“Last fall, BC United presented a series of common-sense solutions to help fix the glaring flaws in the NDP’s rushed short-term rental legislation, yet the NDP government opposed each of our proposals. Today, we’re again calling on David Eby to fix this flawed legislation and support our bill exempting purpose-built short-term rental units from the Short-Term Rental Accommodations Act,” she said.

“The introduction of this amendment is a direct response to the public outcry against the NDP’s flawed housing policy. Our proposed legislation will fix these sloppy errors, preserving the vital economic benefits of tourism-dependent communities across B.C.”

She says exemptions should be made for certain types of housing units.

“There was no exception or exclusion for properties that are like the ones along Resort Drives and Parksville and I just use them as an example because I think a lot of British Columbians have gone there and spent their summers,” she said.

The MLA says this would force short-term rentals to become long-term rentals and won’t be able to operate as resorts — impacting the tourism industry.

“The amendment was to include an additional exemption for those buildings that were really never intended to be residential,” she said.

“They were not built for the purpose of people to ever be living in them. They were really built just for the purpose of accommodation for people who are traveling or tourists.”

Kirkpatrick says this will cause financial implications for owners.

“The owners of these places own one unit, they’re not big investors that own 10 and 15 different units,” she said.

Using Parksville as an example she says “40% of its municipal revenue comes from tourism and if you remove all of those places, as tourist accommodation, you’re going to really hurt the community.”

She says it does not make sense to convert those residences into long-term living spaces.

“It could have been done in a way that appreciates that there are places that people are going to need to come and stay in the Okanagan. They’ve booked it, they’re having a wedding there, they’re going to visit the wineries there,” she says.

“But those places are no longer available to have short-term rental and so the perfect solution are these purpose-built ones in these tourism zones, but now they’re not going to be available.”

The MLA says there will be a “devastating hit on all communities” that rely on tourism.

With files from Srushti Gangdev.