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Airbnb a global problem

The folks from Airbnb were back at city hall last week to once again make sure things were going their way as city staff continues to collect feedback from Vancouverites on the issue of short-term rentals.
housing

The folks from Airbnb were back at city hall last week to once again make sure things were going their way as city staff continues to collect feedback from Vancouverites on the issue of short-term rentals.

They also wanted to tell city councillors and staff they met with that Airbnb was beginning to poll Vancouverites; more ammunition in what Coun. Geoff Meggs calls “the most comprehensive lobbying campaign I have ever seen.”

And Vancouver is not alone. But I will get to that in a minute.

You may have noticed a very slick series of TV ads and billboards in SkyTrain stations earlier this year promoting the benefits of the “sharing economy.” Airbnb wouldn’t say how much dough that cost them. Advertising industry sources put the “buy” at about $2 million.

And then last week, the Airbnb campaign released a report by a University of Victoria academic, Dr. Brock Smith, on the economic impact Airbnb’s business has on the city of Vancouver. SFU masters student Karen Sawatzky has written her thesis on the phenomenon and impact of short-term rentals and notes that the latest Airbnb economic study is just one of dozens they have produced for similar campaigns they have conducted across the globe.

And please realize that all the raw data that Smith used in doing his calculations was provided to him by Airbnb, including the interviews with Airbnb “hosts” and “guests.”  

Smith confirmed to me that he just took that data as given: “I took them at their word and the numbers seemed reasonable to me.”

What is not included in Smith’s report would make for its own report.

We don’t know, for example, what percentage of the rentals were whole units — houses, laneway houses, basement suites, condos or apartments. We also don’t know what economic impact we would see if they were rented out on a long-term basis; what the social and economic benefit would be if long-term renters were able to fill those spaces and have shorter commutes to work; what it would mean if those long-term renters engaged in community activities — neighbourhood schools, volunteer organizations, shopping at local stores.

The most compelling argument in favour of Airbnb and other short-term rental platforms is that, in a high cost of living environment like Vancouver, people are able to supplement their income enabling them to live in Vancouver. But then wouldn’t they have the same benefits from long-term roommates?

Leaving that aside, two weeks ago Vancouver hosted the Re:Address summit, looking at the housing crisis across the globe. That’s where we heard that the likes of Airbnb have proved a headache for cities from Berlin to New York, Toronto and San Francisco. In other words, Internet platform businesses like Airbnb are causing problems in jurisdictions where rental housing is in incredibly short supply.

Those jurisdictions were undeniably caught off guard, armed with what Meggs calls “horse and buggy” legislation. They found themselves up against what had grown to be a multi-billion dollar, highly litigious leader of the pack in Airbnb.

Vicki Been, the Commissioner of the New York City Department of Housing, observed that when the state’s Governor Andrew Cuomo brought in legislation to restrict short-term rentals, Airbnb filed a legal suit against him practically before the ink on that legislation was dry.

San Francisco’s deputy director of housing, Kate Hartley, told me that Airbnb has been just as aggressive fighting any restrictions that city has attempted to impose.

And, at the same time, she admits that her city was behind the curve when they figured out what short-term rentals were doing to available affordable rentals in her city.

And Toronto city councillor Ana Bailao says her troubled city is playing close attention to how this is playing out.

None of the cities, including Vancouver, think banning all short-terms rentals is where they want to end up. But none of them supports the idea that whole housing units, including condos, apartments, laneway houses and basement suites, should be used for anything but long-term rentals.  

In her presentation to council last month, Airbnb’s public policy director for Canada, Alexandra Dagg, thought the council should be more flexible when it came to laneway houses and basement suites.

We have yet to see what Airbnb will do to push that point.

@allengarr