Airbnb signing bonus could eat into rental housing stock

Airbnb’s offer of a signing bonus for new hosts could further reduce Vancouver’s rental housing, reports Business in Vancouver.

The article notes that short-term rentals like Airbnb could also help homeowners get around a future empty-homes tax in the city.

UBC business professor Tom Davidoff is one of the critics of such a tax.

“You might as well call [any future Vancouver tax on empty homes] an Airbnb subsidy instead of a vacancy tax,” said Davidoff.

This story also appeared in Vancouver Courier.