I'm strongly opposed to short term rentals because it's just giving rise to alt-hotel property management landlords that reduce housing supply. I'm sort of OK with it on an ad-hoc this is my primary residence and I have a spare bedroom.
How many new 20 story condo buildings is that? 20?
In sf the numbers are about ~5000 units. But other data sources show there are about 30k vacant units and 10k are not for rent because potential landlords think the rental laws are too crazy and rather leave them empty. Not to mention all the potential missing units that SF doesnt build due to strong NIMBYism.
How strong is the NIMBY in toronto?
NIMBYism is fine when youre fighting against private individuals exploiting your home for profit. It's not like AirBNB is an issue of it has to exist just not here.
I'm opposed to long term rental.
Wait no. I'm not actually "opposed" to it. I just think of it as a major failure and a big obstacle in modern times.
Who the hell think it is acceptable to be forced into an unbreakable lease for 1-3 years and pay 1 months of agency fee + 2 months of guarantee in advance?
I'm not even sure I could keep a job for an entire year. (and I'm not talking of a programmer in SV who got a better offer but of normal people who just can't get a permanent job in this era).
If you want to stay somewhere for 1-3 week, an hotel will do.
If you want to stay 1-3 years, a "normal" flat will do.
AirBnB fills the gap between.
Not to mention that it also fills the gap for people who cannot give all the bullshit paperwork of normal flats. Just pay and done, AirBnb does not reject a host for [the same] bullshit reasons [as agencies]. (I don't know how it is in the USA but in France it's a nightmare to get a flat).
> Who the hell think it is acceptable to be forced into an unbreakable lease for 1-3 years
Who the hell would want to live under threat of eviction every few months? When I sign a lease (there isn't really such a thing as an unbreakable lease, you just lose your security deposit) I know that I have a guaranteed place to live for the next year or two. I would not want to live without that guarantee.
I remember when I was a student. There were "student accommodations" that had sort of special terms. People usually stayed there for 3-6-12 months to fit with the university/internship/apprenticeship cycle. That was quite nice. I'm sad that can't have that as an adult.
> I know that I have a guaranteed place to live for the next year or two. [I would not want to live without that guarantee].
I know that I have no guarantee to still have that job [or find another in the area] for a year or two. Thus I have no guarantee that I can stay in this place for the next year or two.
I would like to live with the guarantee of having a job, and a revenue, and a place to stay, and a girlfriend, and many other things... The world doesn't care about what I'd like.