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Bunkies provide a glimpse into the viability of short-term rentals

Over the years, several major Canadian cities have begun enforcing regulations aimed at cracking down on short-term rentals. In Toronto, for example, new regulations that come into effect in 2020 ensure that people can only list their primary residence as a short-term rental. Other cities like Vancouver and Ottawa have similar requirements.

According to David Wachsmuth, Canada Research Chair in Urban Governance and an associate professor at McGill University in Montreal, these rules are intended to address some of the negative effects of specialized short-term rentals on the market. local housing school. This includes concerns around housing availability.

“Cities are moving very aggressively into regulations that want to limit short-term rentals to people’s main residences, which says home sharing is good – if you’re away for the weekend or you have an empty bedroom, you should rent it, it’s a positive activity,” he told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview on Thursday. “But if you want to take housing off the market and run hotels efficiently, that shouldn’t be allowed.”

In fact, Wachsmuth says there is strong evidence that running full-time short-term rental operations contributes to fewer homes on the market and less affordable housing.

“Dedicated short-term rentals put non-locals in competition with local residents for that housing supply,” he said. “If you reduce the supply of available housing but you don’t reduce the quantity demanded for that housing supply, prices will go up.

“The larger the number of short-term rentals, the higher the price.”

One company that offers the only solution to this problem is Bunkie Life. Based just outside of Erin, Ont., Bunkie Life sells do-it-yourself kits used to make small wooden cabins that can be assembled in a matter of days. These cabins, commonly found in cottages or houses and used for extra storage space, can be converted into cottages ideal for short stays. Kits from Bunkie Life range in size from about 99 to 225 square feet, with prices as low as around $5,500 and as high as $20,000.

“Everybody loves the smell of wood and the feeling of being in a wooden cabin, there is something very human and earthy about it,” Bunkie Life co-founder David Fraser said on a video call with CTVNews. .ca on Tuesday. “You’re almost in the environment as opposed to being indoors, staring out the window at the environment.”

Founded in 2017 by Fraser and his wife, Karrie, both of whom started their businesses by building their own bunk beds and placing them on short-term rental platforms like Airbnb, renting to others. make living space to earn more money. After seeing demand from customers wanting to buy their own bunk beds, Fraser turned to making DIY kits for anyone who wanted to make their own, he says.

“A lot of our customers have purchased bunk beds and they are using them for Airbnbs at their homes or Airbnbs at various properties across Canada,” says Fraser. kits, assemble the cabins and rent them out to others as an additional source of income.

Condominiums, such as those offered by Bunkie Life, are a unique solution to problems many cities face with short-term rentals, Wachsmuth says. They don’t interfere with housing supply, he says, and avoid direct competition with long-term residents while still allowing locals to make money, a win-win result.

“The bunkie concept is really fun and represents something a little closer to the spirit of family sharing,” he said. “I strongly believe that [for] the future viability of short-term rentals, Airbnb as a platform, and other players in this space… this is what the short-term rental market will need. ”

A ‘TOURISM REVOLUTION’

According to a press release from Airbnb on February 3, the Canadian host has earned $7.1 billion through the rental platform since 2010. As of April 30, 2021, the average amount average earned by each host who hosted at least one guest in the previous year. is $9,600. New Airbnb hosts in particular have made $6 billion since the pandemic began. Of all the listings that were booked for Q3 2021, half of them received their first booking within three days of activation.

Airbnb spokesman Matt McNama told CTVNews.ca on Thursday during a video call. “[Hosting] has been an economic lifeline for many Canadians. ”

McNama says the pandemic has not only had an impact on personal finances, but has also led to a shift in travel behaviour. The rise of remote work, he said, has allowed work and travel life to converge, leading to more people exploring rural communities.

“Tourism has become much more local and hyperlocal than it used to be, and people like David and Karrie have really demonstrated how you can take advantage of that,” he said. “They are having people all over Canada visiting Erin, Ontario, instead of going to the US or going abroad to Europe.

“What we’re really talking about here is a tourism revolution.”

Fraser said he is noticing a similar trend. The majority of his company’s clients, he said, involve family-oriented people who often live in cities but also have a second home or cottage in the countryside, and the COVID-19 pandemic. played a big role in increasing the appeal of a cabin in the woods. Recent data compiled by Statistics Canada also shows that an increasing number of Canadians are moving away from urban centers during the pandemic and toward smaller communities instead.

“The lure of getting out [of the city] It’s certainly expanding exponentially, says Fraser. “People will move out of the city if they can, they buy land or buy houses or they move in full-time in their house and just sell their accommodation in the suburbs.”

GUIDE TRENDS FOR WOMEN

Fraser said the wave of people starting to explore more rural areas around the country is part of a trend he expects to continue after the pandemic is over. As of last year, Bunkie Life had sold 1,000 bunk beds, and Fraser predicts the company will sell another 1,000 in 2022, he said. Children’s kits have been sold from Vancouver Island to Newfoundland and Labrador.

According to McNama, the pandemic has also affected the duration of short-term trips. Canadians who use Airbnb are staying at short-term rental properties for much longer periods of time than in the past, especially before the pandemic broke out.

“Gone are the days when we went and did weekend trips,” he said. “Now, we can go a week, two weeks, three weeks. We could work remotely and live anywhere, and it really changed the game.”

McNama expects this behavior to continue throughout the year, he said.

“This is absolutely a trend that will continue into 2022,” he said. “There has been a fundamental shift in how to work remotely with the flexibility we have in terms of mobility and that. is what will continue to happen.”

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