Bieter will not recommend new rules regulating Airbnb, other short term rentals in Boise
Boise Mayor David Bieter announced Wednesday that he would withdraw his recommendation that the city set new policies to regulate short-term rentals like Airbnbs.
In a survey available online for two weeks in September, 67% of people opposed amending city code to regulate short-term rentals, according to a news release from the mayor’s office. About 28% of respondents were in favor, and the remaining 5% were neutral.
“Dozens of conversations with residents have made it clear moving forward on this very complex issue just is not possible,” Bieter said in the release. “We have no policies currently in place, and I don’t believe a task force can be successful. Moreover, even with enforcing such regulations, consensus would be futile.”
A short-term rental is any room, living space or accessory dwelling unit rented out for 30 consecutive days or less.
Idaho Realtors and Boise Regional Realtors both opposed the idea, calling it a “clear overreach” in a September news release.
“This is a significant overstep that threatens one of the most basic precepts of property ownership; the right to rent,” Phil Mount, president of Boise Regional Realtors, said in the release.
The restrictions, which would have only applied to new short-term rentals, would force owners to apply to the city before opening a unit. An owner would be able to have only one unit on a single-family home lot — meaning someone couldn’t rent out more than one space in a house — and they would also require owners to live on-site.
When Bieter proposed the restrictions in September, he said they would benefit housing affordability in Boise and would give the city a tool to preserve local neighborhoods. Affordable housing advocates say short-term rental options like Airbnb reduce the number of affordable units available for people who want to live in, rather than vacation in, Boise. Some worry it ruins the sense of community in residential neighborhoods.
Now he is pointing to the city’s recently expanded rules on accessory dwelling units, which the City Council voted on this summer to try to improve the affordable housing market.
“We should take a look at how these efforts progress before jumping into other regulatory measures too quickly,” Bieter said.
Boise has no regulations in place for short-term rentals. Idaho law stops cities from prohibiting short-term rentals outright, but it grants a city power to regulate them “as it deems necessary to safeguard the public health, safety and general welfare in order to protect the integrity of residential neighborhoods.”
The city has 1,058 active rentals, according to data from AirDNA, a short-term rental analytics company. The majority of those — 859 by AirDNA’s estimates, or 81% of all rentals — are entire homes. Private rooms make up about 19%, while shared rooms are about 0.5%. The majority of those properties are in Boise’s North End and downtown, but there are clusters of short-term around the city.
A search of Airbnb shows hundreds of Boise spaces available for rent on the site, from “spacious guest rooms” to “cozy basement apartments.” Similar sites, including VRBO and Vacasa, show potential renters dozens, if not hundreds, of other rental options.
Meanwhile, Boise renters are facing a shortage of available housing. The rental vacancy rate in the city dipped to 2% in 2018, compared with 8% in 2009.
This story was originally published November 20, 2019 at 11:11 AM.
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