What’s the agenda during this week’s council meeting? Plan of action against short-term rentals. Yes, the City of Calgary is framing its strategy to tackle the problems associated with short-term rentals – joining the growing list of North American cities working on the same.
The recommendations for the policy presented by the City Administration are based on studies divided into two phases. Phase One of the study concluded on December 31, 2023, while Phase Two was launched on August 26 and concluded on September 30. What are the recommendations though:
- Introduce Primary and Non-Primary Residence business licenses with associated fees
- Business license moratorium on new Non-Primary Residences when vacancy rate below 2.5%
- Extend the definition of ‘short-term rental’ to cover up to 180 days
- Licence short-term rental digital platforms
- Restrict short-term rentals in affordable housing
- Form a short-term rental steering committee
- Explore short-term rental property tax subclass for Non-Primary Residences
University of Calgary Associate Professor of Economics Dr. Lindsay Tedds said via a press release, “The landscape of the market and the policy context have both evolved since Calgary adopted rules for short-term rentals in 2020. Through this research partnership with The City, we are developing a data-driven and engagement-informed understanding of the market and the opportunities and pressures it creates. As importantly, we are mobilizing this knowledge to set out implementable policy advice to inform how Calgary manages short-term rentals.”
As per a Planning & Development Services report released on December 5, there are approximately 5,000 short-term rental listings in Calgary – less than 1.0% of all residential properties in Calgary.
Based on the studies, it can also be concluded that the short-term rental market has been on the mend since 2017. There are a lot of ways rentals are helping people. The short-term rentals “serve a need beyond tourism in Calgary as they enable more choices for Calgarians and visitors, including providing temporary accommodation for individuals traveling to Calgary for medical purposes, local Calgarians transitioning between homes, new Calgarians in the process of relocating to Calgary and transitory workers.”
