Canada

This paper examines whether homeowner opposition to nearby housing development affects local councillors’ votes on housing bills. Homeowners benefit financially from restricted housing supply through increased housing prices. City councillors, who approve housing development applications, cater to the needs of homeowners who are often long-term resident voters with a financial stake in neighbourhood amenity levels. Using data from Toronto, Canada from 2009 to 2020, we identify housing bills through a machine learning algorithm. We find that councillors who represent more homeowners oppose more housing bills. In particular, councillors are significantly more likely to oppose large housing developments if the project is within their own ward.

The B.C. government is taking aim at rule-breaking short term rental operators with a proposed law that would increase fines and ban most short-term rentals that aren’t in the operator’s principal residence.

The goal is to discourage landlords and investors from taking desperately needed suites off the long-term rental market by listing them on websites like Airbnb and VRBO. But housing officials acknowledge that almost 50 per cent of short-term rental operators are already flouting bylaws that exist in local communities.