I’ve just finished reading your article on short/long term rentals (Pique, Sept. 8).
It’s all well and good issuing a fine, but $500? These people live in multi-million-dollar homes. Five-hundred dollars is pocket change for them, and they can easily make that money back in one rental from Airbnb. Probably in one night with the price of places on there. They should be getting ridiculous fines, and much greater punishment. Fining the rich in any walk of life is laughable.
The muni needs to build a bunch of apartment blocks, high-rise, similar in size to the Glacier Lane staff housing for affordable housing.
Officials also need to force Vail Resorts to build more staff housing. Whistler Blackcomb currently houses about 30 per cent of its staff, which means about 70 per cent is out in the regular rentals market. I’m sure that’s a lot of places which could be freed up.
There also needs to be a cap on rental prices. There’s a bloke on the Whistler Housing Crisis Facebook page who rents out a place in Function with six bunk beds, for a total of 12 people living there.
The place is tiny and a shithole. I checked it out when I first got here three years ago, and it was $650 a month in summer and $750 a month in winter. I think I saw a post of his the other day for $1,350! It’s ludicrous. He should be wearing a stripy jumper and a balaclava. Surely something can be done about these poisonous landlords charging such ridiculous rates.
I read in the article a landlord saying it’s not good for them, either. Nonsense. Good tenants are paying half their mortgage. If you can’t afford the majority of the mortgage, you shouldn’t be living in the house.
The other problem is rich kids from all over the world supported by mummy and daddy come here and have help with their rent from parents. They’re here on a “gap yar” (posh British accent) spending six months usually skiing so don’t care about the long-term effects. They pay whatever is being asked, so landlords feel they can charge whatever they want. It’s a vicious cycle with the poor losing out, as always.
Maybe they’ll learn one day when they turn up to eat or ski and the lifts aren’t running, or their food isn’t being served because there’s no housing left for the staff.
