Background
A short-term rental is the renting out of a furnished apartment, detached home, or condo, on a weekly or nightly basis. AirB&B is one example. The following types of accommodation are included in the scoping report;
- Bed and Breakfasts –a private home offering sleeping accommodations and a morning meal.
- Rooming House – a private house in which rooms are rented for living or staying temporarily where the owner/operator does not live on site.
- Home Share – an arrangement by which two or more unrelated people share a dwelling.
- Vacation rental (referred to as Short Term Rental in Notice of Motion) – a furnished apartment, house, or professionally managed resort-condominium complex on a temporary basis to tourists.
- Guest Suite –a small, separate house on the grounds of a larger one, or self-contained suite within the home, used for accommodating guests. Guest Suites are a subset of the Vacation Home rental segment where the suite is located on a property of the operator.
In November 2017 Councillor Sutherland brought forward a Notice of Motion on Short Term Rentals Policy and Bylaws directing Administration to:
“explore the Business Licence, Land Use, Fire and Safety Codes requirements that would ensure that Short Term Rentals, Bed and Breakfasts and Lodging Houses are subject to the appropriate level of safety and oversight (commensurate with their scale and purpose), and provide a scoping report with options (including costs of implementation) and recommendations through the SPC on CPS no later than 2018 Q4.”
Since January 2018, Administration has been working to understand the current landscape of the short-term rental market including meeting with external stakeholders.
Calgary Specific Data
The project team has created a report to get a good understanding of the breadth and nature of STRs in the city. Of note in the report are the following:
- There were 3,364 “Active Rental Units” as of April 2018
- 83.8% of operators have just one listing
- The majority of listings, in descending order, are in Ward 7, 8, 11, 4 and 9
- A very high percentage of listings are never to rarely rented, in fact, 38% have been rented for 0 nights
- 30% of units are rented more than 90 nights/year
- 42% of the listings are partial home listings such as those offering a bedroom or a couch rather than a whole unit
- 77% of listings charge $100 or less per night
In addition, the project team took a second look at the breadth and nature of STRs ahead of the 2018 Calgary Stampede. The purpose was to gain an understanding about how the number and types of available units might change ahead of a major event in the city. In the supplementary report are the following key results:
- 105 new units were added to the market, however, 61 previously listed units were removed
- An increased number of operators have more than one listing, especially in Wards closer to the Stampede and around the University of Calgary.
- Advertised nightly rental rates decreased from April to June, especially for “shared rooms” which went down by 22%. Prices decreased for rentals available after Stampede.
Next Steps
At this time, the STR Scoping Report is expected to go to the Standing Policy Committee on Community and Protective Services (SPC on CPS) on November 7, 2018. The meeting will begin at 9:30 am with an anticipated lunch break at 12:00 pm and an afternoon break at 3:15 pm. The STR Scoping Report will be available at Calgary.ca by November 5,, 2018 at the latest. If the timeline changes, you will receive an update.
At the SPC on CPS meeting, each member of the public will be able to make a 5 minute submission following the presentation from City Administration. Public submissions cannot be made to Council for this report.
For details on presenting to Council or Committee as well as alternate means of making an in person submission please visit the following links or email CityClerk@calgary.ca with your comments referencing “Short Term Rental Scoping Report – Nov 7 SPC on CPS” in the subject line.