Haida Gwaii moves to restrict Airbnb rentals amid 'housing crisis'

Officials on Haida Gwaii are cracking down on Airbnb and taking the first step to restrict homeowners turning properties into tourist stops on the picturesque archipelago.

A recent report found villages on the islands are dealing with a housing shortage for long-term residents, despite declining overall populations.

"There's a shortage, the market's gone up in the face of a declining demographic," said Greg Martin, mayor of the Village of Queen Charlotte.

"We have a housing crisis, this is new ground for us."

Under the rule changes proposed by the council of Queen Charlotte, landlords will only be allowed to list their properties on Airbnb if they can prove either they or someone else lives on the property as a primary residence. 

They will require business licences and must improve parking space. Council will also prevent short-term rentals from being set up in apartments and industrial areas.

Population down, but tourism up

The proposed rules were prompted by a report from the Queen Charlotte Heritage Housing Society, which found Airbnb and similar sites have had a "visible impact" on the housing markets.

President Kim Claggett said the increased international profile of Haida Gwaii is transforming it from a resource to a tourism-based economy.

"All of a sudden, we're on the map for tourism. It's been increasing every year," she said. "It's happened really quickly."​

Listen to an interview with Kim Claggett, president of the Queen Charlotte Heritage Housing Society

Claggett said the difficulty is that as the tourism industry grows on the archipelago, it is increasingly difficult for people in the service industry to find a place to live because they are competing with tourist dollars.

"It's a juggling act," she said.

Square one

The new rules are still in their first draft and need additional council readings and work to become law.

The move to change the zoning bylaws began about a year-and-a-half ago, Martin said, but council was waiting to see the results of a recent housing forum before moving forwards.

"We're at square one," Martin said. "We're not moving quickly, no one can accuse of us rapidity — we're about as slow as a limpet."

Other municipalities around the province have introduced their own rules to deal with the growing popularity of Airbnb, forcing people posting their properties to pay for annual licences.

In February, the B.C. government announced legislation requiring Airbnb to collect taxes on their rentals, with most of the money going toward affordable housing projects.

With files from Daybreak North.