New provincial rules mean Kelowna to lose 700 short-term rentals

Kelowna city council is being asked to scratch 693 of 1,191 licenced short-term rental units in the city in order to comply with new provincial regulations as of May 1.

The 498 remaining can only be rented out if they are the owners' primary residences, meaning they live in the residence “for a longer period of time in a calendar year than any other place.”

All the buildings that have been zoned for short-term rentals since the city first put its rules in place in 2019 are no longer part of that rental pool unless they meet the primary residency rules.

Council is being asked to remove that wording from the affected zones.

The city can only apply for exemptions from the provincial residency regulations if the rental vacancy rate in the city is higher than 3%.

“The last time the vacancy rate in the City of Kelowna was above 3% was in 2012, so Kelowna is not eligible to apply for an exemption from the principal residence requirements at this time,” the report going to council on Monday, Jan. 15, says.

In late December, Jon Friesen, the CEO of Mission Group, said the region’s Urban Development Institute was working with the city and province to allow some properties that were once zoned for hotels to be exempted from the new rules.

Ryan Smith, the city’s Community Planning Department manager, told iNFOnews.ca the city is not actually lobbying for those changes but council could ask staff to go in that direction.

While that option is not specifically referenced in the report to council, it does say that strata title hotels could possibly be exempted.

Hotels, motels and temporary shelters like RVs and tents are not covered by the new provincial rules, nor do they apply in communities of less than 10,000 people or resort communities like Big White Ski Resort.

Short-term rental licences that have been renewed this year are only valid until April 30.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Rob Munro or call 250-808-0143 or email the editor. You can also submitphotos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here.