Enforcement blitz nabs hundreds of unlicensed short-term rentals in London, Ont.

Screenshot of Airbnb website searching for London accommodations. (Source: Airbnb)

A crackdown by city hall has upended the local short-term rental market — leaving just 31 legally licenced properties on websites like AirBnB and Vrbo.

A total of 366 unlicensed premises offering short term accommodations (STAs) have been identified and issued a “notice of contravention” by Municipal Compliance Services.

Failure to comply with the written notice could result in a $500 fine that may be doubled for repeat offences.

Of those locations identified through the investigation, 89 were operating without a licence.

The remaining 277 premises do not appear to be the principal residence of the property owner and must cease operating as a short-term accommodation.

In 2022, Municipal Council approved an amendment to the business licencing by-law to regulate hosts and online broker websites.

The new rules require STAs to be located on the owner’s primary residential property, essentially eliminating out-of-town and absentee hosts.

“The purpose of the (by-law) amendment is to protect the health and safety of persons using these accommodations, to ensure these accommodations do not create neighbourhood nuisances, and to protect the residential amenity, character and stability of residential communities,” explained Orest Katolyk, director of Municipal Compliance in a news release.

For the 2023 licence year, 55 short-term accommodation applications were received but just 31 licences have been issued.

A short-term accommodation is defined as a temporary rental accommodation in all, or part of a dwelling for short period (29 days or less).

Online brokers must also be licenced and post individual premise licence numbers for each listing on their platform.

“Council enacted this by-law amendment following a full public participation process,” added Katolyk.