People have been shouting to the sky that they want to bring back short-term rentals like Airbnb, and months before the official review date Kelowna is getting its ducks in a row.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Feb. 23, Kelowna city council plans on introducing a new subzone bylaw that would regulate short-term rentals more closely, but the province isn\u2019t officially set to review the city\u2019s request to bring back Airbnbs until November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The new subzone bylaw would give the city the ability to allow short-term rentals in certain areas including mixed commercial zones, agricultural zones, mobile home zones and suburban residential zones. It would also increase the amount of time someone could rent a short-term rental from 29 days to 90 days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It would also split the short-term rental zones into two groups, major short-term accommodation, which wouldn\u2019t require the owner to use the property as their home, and a minor short-term rental accommodation which would require the owner to use the property as their home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Short-Term Rental Accommodations Act came into effect on May 1, 2024. It requires a city to have a vacancy rate above 3% to bring back short-term rentals like Airbnbs. Kelowna\u2019s vacancy rate is 6.4%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even though council is set to look at this new bylaw, the city still doesn\u2019t have the province\u2019s approval to bring back Airbnbs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n