Category Archives: Housing
YIMBY’s Airbnb problem: the housing movement that takes money from the company removing housing
By Rohana Rezel In a blog post that remains live on its website, California YIMBY argues that short-term rental regulations make the housing crisis worse. The post cites a single academic study to make the case that restricting Airbnb reduces
BC banned Airbnb from non-primary residences. Then the rents came down.
On October 16, 2023, the day BC announced it would restrict short-term rentals to principal residences, Tamara Stone, a Kelowna realtor, received six calls from panicked property owners before noon. Within days, 250 new houses and 392 new condos appeared
Airbnb let fraudster scam guests for months, refused to refund victims
By Lisa Tanh Airbnb allowed a fraudulent host to run a scam short term accommodation operation for months in Vancouver despite multiple guest complaints while refusing to refund the victims, an investigation by ThinkPol has found. Since January, a host
Vancouver Public Library got real estate advisory firm to edit press release, records show
Vancouver Public Library got a real estate firm to edit a press release promoting a controversial event featuring a pro-development advocate, records obtained via freedom of information requests show. Brendan Dawe of real estate advisory company Urbanics edited the original
Fractional investing: How the dream of homeownership for a dollar became a nightmare for tenants
By Chen Zhou Startups that promise to help Canadians priced out of the real estate market realize their dreams of homeownership for just a loonie are becoming a nightmare for renters. In May 2022, a volunteer-run organization RenovictionsTO tweeted the
Vancouver’s flipper MP Taleeb Noormohamed owns shares in Airbnb
Vancouver’s real-estate-speculator-turned-MP Taleeb Noormohamed owns shares in Airbnb – the short term accommodation platform blamed for taking long-term rentals out of Vancouver’s tight rental market while bringing crime and violence to residential neighbourhoods. Vancouver-Granville Member of Parliament Taleeb Noormohamed, who
Real estate investors in public office represent a conflict of interest
Dear Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, Disclosure documents from your office show a full one third of Canada’s federal cabinet ministers, including the Finance Minister and Housing Minister, to real estate investors. At least a fifth of the Members
Innocent homeowner threatened with violence after fake rental ad goes viral
An innocent homeowner is facing threats of violence after an anonymous YIMBY account’s viral tweet claiming to show a rental ad on Craiglist looking for “vaccine-free family of European heritage” went viral. Internet mobs are calling for the burning down
Euthanasia is no solution to the housing crisis
The recent news of two Canadians seeking medically-assisted death after being unable to find affordable housing within a space of a month[1][3] should fill you with shame. It is a testament to the monumental failure of your government’s housing and
City of Vancouver ignored gentrification while pushing neoliberal policies of market development for “livability”, study finds
The City of Vancouver ignored gentrification and displacement of working-class and low-income families as the city hall pursued neoliberal policies of market development under the “livability” narrative, a new study shows. In their detailed analysis of 37 planning documents and
