Airbnb says thousands of B.C. reservations at risk, blames 'rushed' rental rules

Short-term vacation rental platform Airbnb said Friday that "thousands" of reservations in British Columbia are at risk of cancellation, accusing the province of rushing out regulations as it cracked down on the industry.

Alex Howell, Airbnb's Canadian policy lead, said in an interview with The Canadian Press that the new rules, which require short-term rental hosts to confirm their listings are legal, have already led to some bookings being cancelled.

The government has said platforms such as Airbnb can't post B.C. listings without confirming they are registered with the province.

Howell said many hosts whose properties qualify can't register due to glitches and other problems with the new system.

"Typically, we would have worked with a government for six months to do live testing, to make sure that things are working the way they should," Howell said. 

"And unfortunately in this situation, B.C. really just rushed into launching the system that hadn't been fully tested, and that's what's brought us to this situation."

The province said Friday that dozens of other short-term rental platforms serving B.C. have managed to support their hosts in registering with the government.

But Howell said that property owners have reported that typos and formatting errors have prevented them from registering with the province, despite meeting all the legal criteria for hosting short-term rentals.

"The government's short-term rental system simply isn't ready," Howell said in a statement to CBC News. "We warned that rushing this rollout would lead to serious consequences, and now British Columbians are paying the price."

Summer is tourist season

The province had said that short-term rentals are being restricted to principal residences, a secondary suite or a structure such as a laneway house on the property, and the policy is meant to open up more units in B.C.'s rental housing market.

Howell said the timing of B.C.'s latest rules on short-term rentals is especially impactful, just ahead of the busy summer tourist season.

"Thousands of reservations across the province are now at risk," she said. "These are registered, compliant hosts that are failing validation protocols through no fault of their own.

"And this impacts … thousands of reservations across the province, at least 50 per cent of which are domestic travellers who are following their own government's advice to support local and travel within Canada this year."

Howell said instead of waiting until the June 23 deadline — when bookings on unregistered B.C. properties would be cancelled — Airbnb is proactively contacting affected hosts and guests to offer penalty-free cancellations.

Airbnb can 'find solutions'

In a statement, B.C. Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon said the province is confident that "Airbnb will find solutions to their challenges with getting listings verified ahead of the June 23 deadline."

"We hope that Airbnb will choose to support their hosts in verifying their listings, instead of cancelling their bookings," Kahlon said. "This is new ground for B.C., and we are working through ServiceBC, our short-term rental branch, and the platforms themselves to help hosts comply with the requirements."

The ministry also noted that there are 65 short-term rental platforms operating in B.C., and other platforms have been successful in supporting their hosts to get registered.

In a separate statement, the Opposition B.C. Conservatives criticized the NDP's short-term rental policies, with Prince George-Valemount MLA Rosalyn Bird saying the regulations run counter to the province's efforts to promote local travel.

"How do you promote staycations while sabotaging the short-term rental market that makes them possible in small towns?" Bird said in the statement. "The Premier [David Eby] says 'travel within B.C.', and then his government kneecaps our ability to welcome those travellers."