With its many charming restaurants, artistic community and vibrant nightlife, the Plateau has been a hotspot for renters for years, but that could be changing thanks to the increasing number of Airbnbs in the neighbourhood.
The number of listings has grown steadily over the past year, and housing advocates said that trend is pushing renters out of the Plateau.
According to a study conducted by Comite Logement, there’s been a five per cent decrease in the number of rentals available, equivalent to up to 2,000 residences.
According to city estimates, there are 8,000 units in the Plateau and downtown being rented out on Airbnb. In 2016, the province passed a law requiring Airbnb landlords to register with the province, with those who don’t facing fines of between $2,500 and $25,000 per day.
Comite Logement blamed Airbnb, saying landlords have discovered how lucrative running a rental property can be. That dearth of rentals has had spinoff effects, such as gentrification and a general change in the atmosphere of the Plateau, they added.
Those changes have sparked anger in residents of the Plateau and other Montreal areas, leading some to encourage people to report illegal units.
Last year, Revenue Quebec was given increased powers to inspect the properties in an effort to crack down on illegal Airbnb rentals while the city recently began cutting down lockboxes that landlords hang on parking meters to give renters access to keys.
But community organizer Gabrielle Renaud said those efforts have come up short.
“We want some regulation that can be applicable by the government,” she said. “Right now, the law is based on denunciation by the tenants or people who live near an Airbnb and that’s not working. You can’t base a law on someone calling and saying ‘Hey, my neighbour is doing an Airbnb.’ Airbnb has to give the data on who’s doing Airbnb.”
