Vancouver short-term rentals have become ‘mini-hotel’ businesses, critic says

On West 28th Avenue in the Riley Park area of Vancouver, a laneway house and basement suite are marketed as short-term rentals on Booking.com.

The entire 3,600-square-foot property, including the main house, is for sale, asking price $5.388 million.

The listing describes the one-bedroom laneway house and the three-bedroom basement suite as “mortgage helpers,” and when visitors tour the property, the agent quietly touts the two as bringing over $19,000 a month in revenue as short-term rentals.

Short-term rentals can earn an owner a lot more than offering the spaces as conventional long-term rentals.

Some housing observers are concerned that the appeal of those earnings is killing any incentive to provide long-term rentals and that short-term rentals can also lead to higher home prices, or at least higher asking prices.