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Toronto city council approves new short-term rental rules

Click to play video: 'Short-term rental regulations up for debate at Toronto city council'
Short-term rental regulations up for debate at Toronto city council
Thu, Dec 7: New regulations put forward for short-term rentals in the city is up for debate at Toronto city council, in its last meeting of 2017 – Dec 7, 2017

Toronto city council has approved regulations for short-term rentals in the city that would apply to such services as Airbnb.

The rules allow the rental of a principal residence only and homeowners won’t be allowed to list secondary suites, such as a basement apartment, for short-term rental.

Entire home rentals will be capped at 180 days a year.

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READ MORE: Toronto condo owner battles board over sharing unit with Airbnb customers

The city will create a registry of short-term rental landlords who would have to declare that their rental property was their principle residence and pay an annual fee of $50.

Around 10,800 Airbnbs were rented out in Toronto in 2016 and the company estimates that over three quarters of their Toronto landlords are renting out space in their principal residence.

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It says more than half of all Airbnb listings are in the city’s downtown, and the vast majority – over 80 per cent – accept only short-term bookings.

READ MORE: Renters and Airbnb landlords square off as Toronto considers new short-term rental rules

Fairbnb, a coalition founded by a Toronto-area hospitality workers’ union to advocate for Airbnb legislation, called for rental units to be preserved for long-term renters, not vacation rentals.

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