The boom in the usage of Airbnb is reducing the supply of rental housing in Toronto – which is already limited – as well as threatening the licensed hotel business in the city, it was claimed yesterday.
A study from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives also criticized the home-sharing platform for promoting a disingenuous brand ethos – claiming that there is a “disconnect between the Airbnb narrative around ‘sharing’ that is at the heart of its advertising campaign.”
The report said that shared accommodation represents the minority of Airbnb rentals in Toronto, with twice as many listings for complete homes or condos compared to rooms.
The CCPA said that a ‘small group of key players’, made up of the 13% of hosts with more than one Airbnb listing, account for 46% of revenue estimates in Toronto.
Airbnb, however, maintains that its typical hosts are “normal people” who rent out their primary residence.
The report, entitled ‘Nobody’s Business: Airbnb in Toronto’, identified three “Airbnb hot spots” which it says represent more than a quarter of rental listings in Toronto – which are mostly dense, condo-based communities close to downtown attractions and businesses.
CCPA director Trish Hennessy, who co-wrote the report, said that vacancy rates had “virtually flatlined” in some of the areas.
In a report released by the home-sharing platform in September, in which the company described the majority of its hosts in Toronto as regular people, it said the typical Toronto host earns an average of $4,500 a year by renting out their space.
Next year, the city council is expected to look at how the home-sharing industry should be regulated – but Toronto is slow on the uptake to deal with regulatory issues, Hennessy said.
In its September report, Airbnb said it was “engaged in productive conversations with provincial officials,” adding that there is a need to develop “fair, easy-to-follow rules that support home sharing.”
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