The city of Montreal is hardening the rules on short -term rentals organized through companies such as Airbnb, since it tries to maintain the increase in rents under control.
The mayor of Montreal, Valérie, said Thursday that the regulations introduced by the Quebec government are not working. Therefore, the city only allows short -term rentals between June 10 and September 10 in the primary residences of the entire city.
The rest of the year, short -term rentals will be allowed exclusively in duly registered units within the areas allowed by the city.
He said that the current provincial rules that required that all tenants were registered with the city had overwhelmed inspectors, which made it difficult for them to keep the pace.
The current “model does not apply to our reality in Montreal,” he said in a statement.
“By limiting short -term rentals throughout the territory to a single permitted period, we will facilitate the work of our inspectors, who will no longer have to gather imposing files to demonstrate that the proposed homes against the municipal statutes.”
The Tourist Accommodation Law of the Province and the city statutes could not stop illegal rentals in the short term, said the city.
Montreal has fought to enforce existing rulesDespite attempts to further limit illegal rentals after a fatal fire in the old Montreal in 2023.
As is, more than half of approximately 4,000 units available in the short -term rental market are illegal, according to the city. Therefore, the changes could release 2,000 units to the long -term rental market, the city said.
Fines for every night
The new rules are “clear,” he said at a press conference in the morning, noting that they will be easier to apply because criminals will have the burden of evidence instead of the other way around.
Previously, it depended on the inspectors to gather evidence and present a case against the owner of a property, which was supposed to be innocent. Now, similar to traffic crimes, owners will have to dispute fines.
Under the new framework of Montreal, the inspectors will issue fines of $ 1,000 directly to the criminals for each day that the rules are broken. Additional fines of $ 2,000 can also be issued for each day of recidivism.
He said that under the previous framework, the inspectors took more than a year to respond to complaints and close illegal rentals, in some cases.
“When we are in a crisis climate, that is unacceptable,” he said.
Impact on rentals?
Catherine Lussier, with the housing rights group Front d’Action Populaire in Réaménage Urbain (Fragru), called the change “a good step in a good direction.”
“We hope it is discouraging for people who want to do it illegally,” he said, suggesting that the same rules should be applied to other Quebec cities.
She warned that the measure will not “resolve the crisis alone,” since some of the rental units that return to the market can be too expensive so that low -income residents can afford.
In response to the new policy, Quebec Minister of Housing, France-Eline Duranceau, told Radio-Canada that it is up to the city to determine how it manages the rents of short disorders.
At the same time, he said that the province wants to ensure that the new rules of the city do not harm the tourism industry.
Ultimately, the solution to the increase in the cost of rentals is more housing, he said.
AirbnB denounced the changes in a statement sent by email, maintaining that the short -term rentals had not contributed to the low vacancies.
Alex Howell, a company representative, said that the new rules “weakened the economy, would damage local businesses, increase hotels and punish the responsible hosts that depend on additional income during a crisis of life costs” .
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