3 ms·

Right, it's one of many factors contributing to the absurdly low vacancy rate (and resulting absurdly out-of-reach housing costs) Presumably addressing this is

Right, it's one of many factors contributing to the absurdly low vacancy rate (and resulting absurdly out-of-reach housing costs) Presumably addressing this issue could be a multi pronged approach, which may involve restrictions on airbnb. But i totally agree the city can't just ban airbnb and call it a day - that would be unproductive at best

philipov 8y ago
high vacancy rate, or low occupancy rate
- helen___keller 8y ago
  Vacancy rate for standard long-term rental units, is absurdly low in toronto (1.1%) A low vacancy rate generally means that rentals are a seller's market - offer a bad unit or a high price, or both, and you can easily find a tenant, because there's just so few places to rent. I believe a healthy vacancy rate for a city is in the 6-7 percent range. 1.1 percent is insanely low. But, it's not terribly surprising. The story of housing in the 21st century is that vacancy builds in the tiny manufacturing towns of yesteryear (much of the Midwest USA for example) while people move en masse to a few superstar cities that usually fail under overbearing regulations and zoning to build anywhere near enough units to match the incoming migration.
parthdesai 8y ago
No, but cities should definitely make sure that entire town/neighbourhood don't become AirBnB neighbourhood. They should make sure that you can only AirBnB your primary residence unit, can't AirBnB for more than X number of days/year and allow property management to blacklist the building if the condo bylaw says so. But despite the typical SV hubris of caring for the world and community, that'll hurt AirBnB's growth numbers and thus they won't do that. Also, if you read the article, i live in the most affected neighbourhood of Spadina/Fort-York, and trust me if a hell on some Fridays and Saturdays. You'll see a group of 5-10 people from out of the city (could even be some 20 year olds from suburbs) rent a 1-2 bedroom unit, pre game, come home shit faced, sometimes puking in the elevator, destroying the lobby and hall ways, blasting music at 3 am, not giving a shit about people actually living in these condos.

philipov 8y ago

high vacancy rate, or low occupancy rate

helen___keller 8y ago
Vacancy rate for standard long-term rental units, is absurdly low in toronto (1.1%) A low vacancy rate generally means that rentals are a seller's market - offer a bad unit or a high price, or both, and you can easily find a tenant, because there's just so few places to rent. I believe a healthy vacancy rate for a city is in the 6-7 percent range. 1.1 percent is insanely low. But, it's not terribly surprising. The story of housing in the 21st century is that vacancy builds in the tiny manufacturing towns of yesteryear (much of the Midwest USA for example) while people move en masse to a few superstar cities that usually fail under overbearing regulations and zoning to build anywhere near enough units to match the incoming migration.

parthdesai 8y ago

No, but cities should definitely make sure that entire town/neighbourhood don't become AirBnB neighbourhood. They should make sure that you can only AirBnB your primary residence unit, can't AirBnB for more than X number of days/year and allow property management to blacklist the building if the condo bylaw says so. But despite the typical SV hubris of caring for the world and community, that'll hurt AirBnB's growth numbers and thus they won't do that. Also, if you read the article, i live in the most affected neighbourhood of Spadina/Fort-York, and trust me if a hell on some Fridays and Saturdays. You'll see a group of 5-10 people from out of the city (could even be some 20 year olds from suburbs) rent a 1-2 bedroom unit, pre game, come home shit faced, sometimes puking in the elevator, destroying the lobby and hall ways, blasting music at 3 am, not giving a shit about people actually living in these condos.