New short-term rental regulations you need to know if you own property in Toronto

The City of Toronto will be moving forward with the new short-term rental regulations that were proposed and approved back in late 2017. 

The Local Planning Appeal Tribunal recently dismissed the appeal of the City council-approved zoning regulations for short-term rentals, so Toronto will soon have a different rental landscape. 

"This is good news for Toronto residents and a step in the right direction when it comes to regulating short-term rentals and keeping our neighbourhoods liveable,” said Mayor John Tory in a release. “When we approved these regulations in 2017, we strived to strike a balance between letting people earn some extra income through Airbnb and others, but we also wanted to ensure that this did not have the effect of withdrawing potential units from the rental market. I have always believed our policy achieves the right balance which in this case falls more on the side of availability of affordable rental housing and the maintenance of reasonable peace and quiet in Toronto neighbourhoods and buildings."

There are a few new rules that will be implemented soon. Short-term rental will be permitted across the city in all housing types, but only in principal residences (and both homeowners and tenants can participate). If you live in a secondary unit, you can rent out your home short-term, but only if the secondary unit is your primary residence.  

You’ll be able to rent up to three bedrooms or your entire residence. If renting your entire home while you are away, you can do so for a maximum of 180 nights a year. If you are renting out any part of your home, you must register with the City and pay a $50 fee. 

For companies like Airbnb, they will have to pay a one-time fee of $5,000 to the City, plus $1 for each night booked. This way, the city is benefitting from the success of a company that is leveraging local housing to make a profit. 

There will also be a Municipal Accommodation Tax of 4% that you will have to pay on any short-term rentals less than 28 consecutive days. Companies like Airbnb will be able to volunteer to collect and pay the MAT on behalf of their users. 

It seems like these changes will mostly impact the condo rental market. Most investors renting their condo units through companies like Airbnb are not renting out their principal residence; it’s usually a secondary residence. Without short-term rental income as an option, we could see a slight drop in investors in the new condo market. Fewer investors means less sales and more supply for end-users. This could result in price moderation or even a price drop in the pre-construction market. 

We could also see some condo units hitting the resale market and long-term rental market, as investors look to other options to profit off their properties. 

There will be a transition period as investors figure out what to do with their condo units, but in the long-run, this change seems to make sense in that it delivers more supply to the people who are living in the city, as opposed to just visiting.