海角社区官网

鈥淚t suggests that these residential condo buildings have been turned into hotels that are not zoned as hotels nor taxed as hotels,鈥� said Thorben Wieditz, executive director of advocacy group Fairbnb Canada Network.

The database comes as New York City cracks down on Airbnbs with new regulations aimed at getting these units back on the long-term rental market.

It shows that at the Harbourfront Ice towers, long dogged by the label of 鈥済host hotel,鈥� more than 230 units are short-term rentals, while at 101 Peter St. there are 102.

And at 300 Front St. W., across from the Metro 海角社区官网Convention Centre, about 28 per cent are being rented on platforms such as Airbnb, with 195 listed.

requires landlords to get a licence, and they can only rent out their own homes or 鈥減rincipal residences鈥� for a maximum of 180 days a year. The city says thousands of operators have been removed from platforms since the regulations were introduced in early 2021.

Nathan Rotman, regional lead for the U.S. northeast and Canada at Airbnb, called Toronto鈥檚 decision to release the data 鈥渁 mistake鈥� that is 鈥渄angerous鈥� for both hosts and guests because it alerts the public to properties where someone might be away, or in an unfamiliar place.

He said the city already has 鈥渢he strictest regime in Canada.鈥� Making the rules more prohibitive, as some housing advocates suggest, 鈥渨ill have no impact on the housing market,鈥� he added, noting rents and housing prices continued to climb even as the short-term rental bylaw was implemented.

鈥淭oronto鈥檚 problem is enormous and short-term rentals are a blip in the overall challenge,鈥� he said.

Carleton Grant, the city鈥檚 executive director of municipal licensing and standards, said the city has always agreed to release the data for transparency, adding they made some updates to the database over the summer.

Since the bylaw went into effect, the city has received nearly 3,000 complaints. They have laid 150 charges against short-term rental operators, mostly for renting out homes that weren鈥檛 their principal residences, or not registering, added a spokesperson. But Grant said 鈥渋t鈥檚 not a direct correlation between complaints and charges鈥� and they work carefully to validate all of them.

Staff are also planning on the bylaw later this month, as directed by council, to see how it鈥檚 working. They will report back later this year.

Ice condos is a known 鈥減roblematic property,鈥� Grant said, adding: 鈥淚t鈥檚 the number one on our list to work with.鈥�

There are 1,343 units at the Ice condos, according to Nicholas Pearson, president of the condo board there. This means that 17.5 per cent are being rented short term.

The buildings, with a central downtown spot near King St. W and Scotiabank arena, make an 鈥渁ttractive location鈥� for these kinds of stays, Pearson said. He acknowledged they鈥檝e become 鈥渢he face鈥� of the issue in the city.

Ward 10 (Spadina鈥擣ort York) has the most registered short-term rentals in the city, with more than 2,000, followed by Ward 13 (海角社区官网Centre) with 670.

Last spring, Ice condos signed an exclusive agreement with Airbnb for guests to pay a $15 booking surcharge towards the building.

They鈥檝e been doing as much as they can 鈥渂ut we call on the city to really step up their efforts there as well, because we need their support,鈥� Pearson said.

They鈥檇 like to see 鈥渉igher penalties and more enforcement,鈥� specifically around ensuring homes are a short-term rental host鈥檚 principal residence, to make sure units are rented responsibly and within the rules.

The property management firms for the other buildings with the most short-term rentals did not respond to a request for comment.

Fairbnb鈥檚 Wieditz praised the city for releasing the addresses of short-term rentals, ., Airbnb and the City of Vancouver fought the release of similar information.

鈥淚t really helps us to pinpoint down where the hot spots are and what the issues are,鈥� he said.

He favours a stricter regime in 海角社区官网with, for example, a notarized declaration of principal residence to discourage people from using units solely as short-term rentals by making them jump through more hoops.

The city of Toronto鈥檚 address database does not include listings advertising rentals for longer than 28 days, which do not need to be registered under the bylaw. It鈥檚 something Grant said is 鈥渁n emerging area they are looking into鈥� and will include in the upcoming consultations. It鈥檚 also challenging to know how many unregistered short-term rentals there are, he added, and there鈥檚 no estimate on that.

鈥淲e will find people trying to break loopholes and we will bring them to compliance,鈥� said Grant.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a fairly new program, we鈥檙e always learning.鈥�

He called the city鈥檚 short-term rental bylaw 鈥渁 leader in Canada and North America,鈥� and said the city checks against owners鈥� driver鈥檚 licences that they are indeed renting out their own homes. The consultations will also look at what other places around the world are doing, such as New York.

, owners must be registered, be present when guests stay, have no more than two guests at a time, and allow guests to have access to the whole home.

Airbnb鈥檚 Rotman called New York City鈥檚 rules a 鈥渄e facto ban鈥� and 鈥渓ikely the most strict in the world鈥� where very few people are able to be registered.

The company鈥檚 internal data shows the average host in 海角社区官网shares their home only about 50 nights a year, he said, and guests have an economic impact, supporting restaurants and small businesses across different neighbourhoods.

鈥淚ndividuals short-term rent for the most part, especially in Toronto, to make ends meet, to maximize the value of a space that cost them a lot of money to buy in the first place, in order to pay their rent, and pay their mortgage, in tough times,鈥� he said.