Helping people profit off of their empty houses is not a reasonable business case in places where rental housing is in short supply such as in Victoria BC, Vancouver and Toronto.
I dont think that it is something that should be encouraged anywhere. Investors buying up apartments and condos and turning them into ABNB has grossly distorted the long term rental market. Short term rentals certainly have their place. If someone wants to rent our their home while they are on vacation or a spare room (even a suite) to visitors then that makes sense. Buying a 2nd property for the purpose of short term rental is an idea that should be crushed. Investing in traditional rental ownership though has a place and makes sense. Not everyone can afford to buy property and build a house on it, but they still need somewhere to live. Without ABNB distorting that market hopefully prices there would come down out of the stratosphere.
People should not be allowed to own two properties when some people can’t afford to own one. Allowing this is akin to saying that some people are inherently better than others and perpetuates wealth inequity. This is only a hard concept to grasp for out-of-touch wealthy people (and you can’t tell me that someone who owns two properties isn’t wealthy), a concept that children grasp instinctually.
