Charlottetown short-term rentals should be limited to primary residences, excluding apartments: report
CBC
The city of Charlottetown should restrict short-term rentals to primary residences excluding apartments, says a new report by the city's Planning and Heritage Department.
The report, which will be submitted to city council and the planning board for their October meetings, says recent public consultations on the subject of short-terms rentals (STRs) showed there was community consensus behind such a policy.
Housing advocates have long called for more regulations on short-term rentals, arguing they threaten housing affordability in the city by encouraging people to buy up houses to rent out to tourists rather than leaving them available to long-term renters.
The report notes that the number of STR private-home listings in Charlottetown rose 7.9 per cent from September 2018 to the same period the following year.
The report says only 265 out of a total 370 short-term rental listings in the city were registered on P.E.I. Tourism's licensed registry database, meaning that over half the listings in Charlottetown weren't compliant with provincial legislation.
Tourism P.E.I.'s issuing of tourist accommodation licences without ever confirming their approval with the municipality has led to "both confusion and proliferation" of non-compliant STRs in the city, the report goes on to say.
The report recommends that council establish a municipal STR registry linked to its provincial equivalent to ensure both jurisdictions' regulations are adhered to.