Airbnb short-term rentals to remain unregulated in Moncton

Moncton will continue its years-long wait-and-see approach to regulating short-term rental services like Airbnb.

City staff say they're too busy to take on the work at the momentand recommended waiting to see how regulation unfolds elsewhere in the Maritimes.

"I think it will be very interesting to see how things go in Charlottetown once their bylaw comes into effect,"Josh Davies, a planner with the city, told council.

That city approvedzoning and developmentrules in February to requireany short-term rental to be a primary residence.

Owners will not be allowed to have multiple properties, and apartments won'tbe allowed.The rules take effect in March 2023.

Davies said the city will also monitor Nova Scotia's plan to require all short-term rentals in that province to register with the tourist accommodation registry.

Approved, with concerns

At a committee meeting Monday, councillors voted in favour of the staff recommendation to wait, withcouncillors Dave Steeves and Charles Leger votingagainst.

It's the second time in two years council has voted to continue monitoring the market.

However, several voiced concerns about the safety of unregulated rental units and the impact on the housing market.

Deputy Mayor Bryan Butler said he is concerned about homes being split up into multiple rental units without adequate safety measures.

"I just think that maybe we should be tightening up the rules this time a little bit," Butler said.

Leger raised the impact on housing.

"We know that we have a lack of affordable housing in our community," Leger said.

A staff report to council says there were346 active short-term rental listings in Moncton as of last month. Most were on Airbnb, while four per cent were on another rental site calledVRBO.

Three quarters of the listings were for an entire dwelling, while the remainder were single rooms within a dwelling.

A staff report says the city has received complaints about three short-term rentals, generally related to noise and the effect on the neighbourhood.

The report says there has been one complaint concerned about the impact short-term rentals would have on the housing market.That contrasts with, the report says, "hundreds" of complaints in Charlottetown.