Squamish and the Sea to Sky Corridor has been, like the Lower Mainland, playing a game of musical chairs in recent years when it comes to rental accommodations.
With near-zero vacancy rates, the region is experiencing “reno-victions” or rent spikes following the end of fixed-term leases. Another potential factor garnering more attention is the effect of the online site Airbnb.
At a meeting earlier this year, the Squamish Lillooet Regional District board received a report from staff to look into the presence of Airbnb in the region and what effects it might be having.
The report was prompted by bed-and-breakfast operators in the Pemberton area concerned about having to compete on an unlevel playing field with an enterprise like Airbnb.
However, there are also questions about what local Airbnb operators are doing to the availability of rental units.
Mayor Patricia Heintzman of Squamish said the issue is one that could be affecting Corridor communities – for example, competition for tourism accommodation – different communities in different ways.
In Squamish, the concern is more on the rental housing market, as the space is let out to vacationers rather than regular renters.
“Obviously it’s challenging in regard to our secondary suites,” she said. “It’s an interesting problem.”
She also understands that people with expensive mortgages might need to offset costs with short-term income, but this could be reducing the supply of homes for renters. For example, Heintzman knows that some in the community have started using carriage suites on their properties for short-term rentals for visitors.
“There’s upsides and downsides for all these technologies,” she said.
From the District of Squamish point of view, the challenge is to come up with a response through incentives such as breaks on development fees for people building extra space to provide this for residents rather than visitors.
Outside the municipal boundaries, Airbnb is also becoming an issue. As to how many units there are in the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District region, the staff report estimates 46 homes and 10 private rooms are spread through all electoral areas. Of these, 10 homes and two rooms are in Area D.
A search of the site for Squamish shows 64 listings, although this includes surrounding areas in the regional district electoral areas such as Britannia Beach or Furry Creek.
These rentals can range from under $100 a night to several hundred to one large home listing for $1,600 that has been used for weddings.
Area D director Tony Rainbow has heard concerns from residents, although he is not sure whether the site is still operating as the situation has quieted down over the winter.
The regional district is currently bringing in zoning for parts of Area D, which Rainbow said should help in some of these situations.
In Furry Creek, he said there are some existing provisions that can help.
“The residents have found they can use the noise bylaw,” he said.
Rainbow said these cases can be tough to handle, and the regional board may hold off further action for now.
“The feeling about the rest of the region is there haven’t been many complaints,” he said.
This could change, however, if the SLRD starts hearing more concerns from around the region.
In Squamish, the community could use more accommodation for visitors, according to the mayor.
“We’re going to need more. We’re becoming more of a destination,” Heintzman said.
Tourism Squamish puts the number of hotel rooms at 498 without hostel rooms, and 514 when these are taken into account.
The mayor said the question is whether these short-term home rentals pose direct competition to the existing hospitality industry or can complement it.
As far the effects on renting, Heintzman said there are many considerations for an online enterprise such as Airbnb such as public safety, maintenance, liability questions, collecting revenue and increasing the supply of affordable, long-term rental units.
Even with all these questions, one thing seems clear to the mayor about these so-called “sharing economy” businesses.
“The challenge for government is you’re not going to stop them,” Heintzman said. “They’re a moving train.”
