City's year-old short-term rental rules ‘tedious' for some property owners, too much for others
Just over a year has passed since the city introduced bylaws to license and tax short-term accommodation rentals, and while some property owners have adapted to the rules, others have abandoned the sector.
'It's cumbersome and tedious, but business as usual as far as I can tell,' Melanie Mitchell, president of the Manitoba Association of Short Term Rentals, said of the requirements.
'The regulations are tough to follow and we don't understand why some of them are put in place, but… the short-term rental hosts are complying and still being productive and profitable.'
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES
Community services committee chair Coun. Vivian Santos said the data is important for determining the scale and needs of Winnipeg's short-term rental sector.
The move to regulate the sector was prompted, in part, by concerns that short-term rentals were taking up valuable housing stock.
Some Winnipeg residents also feared such properties were becoming frequent sources of parties and criminal activity.
Under the new regulations, introduced in April 2024, property owners can license only one short-term rental unit at their primary residence.
Some owners were grandfathered into the regulations, allowing them to license one primary residence and up to three secondary residences, as long as they owned the properties before Feb. 23, 2023.
Operators must now limit the period renters can stay in their properties to less than 30 days and pay a six per cent accommodation tax — among other requirements.
A new annual report shows the licensing fees and taxes totalled just under $1.3 million as of March 31.
After accounting for expenses, the changes brought about $700,000 into the city coffers.
According to the report, the city issued 698 licences over the past year. Of that number, 341 were for primary residences, while 352 were for non-primary.
Another five licences were granted for rental platforms, which advertise bookings and collect fees on behalf of the operator. Examples of such platforms include popular websites like Airbnb and Vrbo.
As of April 1, 20 new short-term rental applications were under review, the report said.
Mitchell said she hoped enforcement data included in the report would put safety concerns to rest.
According to the data, the city received 165 complaint reports and collected $9,625 in fines over one year. City staff inspected 1,053 properties and reported an 86 per cent compliance rate with regulations, it said.
They found 39 rentals operating without a licence, three advertising without an licence number and 25 not posting the owner's contact information or licence number at the rental, the report said.
In total, 198 short-term rental applications were denied or withdrawn, and 19 others were cancelled by the applicant, the report said.
'Their own data shows that there were very few fines handed out, very few licences denied. And, I'm happy there were some licences denied because there was a black spot in our industry and hopefully that has been stamped out,' Mitchell said.
Community services committee chair Coun. Vivian Santos said the report is critical for determining the scale and needs of Winnipeg's short-term rental sector.
'Now that we've brought this bylaw forward and we have these licences, it's good to see this data open and transparent,' said Santos (Point Douglas).
The report will help inform a larger, ongoing study financed by the federal government, which committed nearly $800,000 to review short-term rental regulations in Winnipeg.
Santos noted city council is open to amending the regulations, should they need fine-tuning.
Mitchell said changes are necessary. She argued against the 30-day limit on short-term rental stays, calling it a 'nuisance.'
The regulation makes it difficult to rent to people visiting Winnipeg for extended stays, or those who have been displaced from their homes for long periods due to emergencies, she said.
Before the rules were enacted, many owners would prioritize mid-term bookings (beyond 30 days, but less than one year) and fill any occupancy gaps with short-term stays, she said.
Former short-term rental owner Kevin Barske said he chose not to renew his licence in April out of frustration with the rule.
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Without the ability to offer both short- and mid-term stays, his occupancy rate dropped to about 56 per cent over the last year, he said.
'My bread and butter was always business people and insurance claims that were coming into Winnipeg for longer than 30 days,' Barske said.
'My unit is occupied less, I'm making less money, plus the extra expenses of licensing and all the headaches for compliance — all that stuff — I just figured it wasn't worth the hassle.'
The community services committee is set to review the annual report during a meeting Friday.
tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca
Tyler SearleReporter
Tyler Searle is a multimedia producer who writes for the Free Press's city desk. A graduate of Red River College Polytechnic's creative communications program, he wrote for the Stonewall Teulon Tribune, Selkirk Record and Express Weekly News before joining the paper in 2022. Read more about Tyler.
Every piece of reporting Tyler produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
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