VRMA Administrator
A new legislative commission will consider short-term rentals and their impact on the affordable housing shortage in Maine. The panel has been asked to review data on housing shortages for low- and middle-income residents and on full-time housing units being turned into short-term rentals. Also to be considered are efforts around Maine and in other states to regulate short-term rentals and limit land use, approaches to apply land-use changes to make homeownership more affordable, and local incentives and statewide regulation to encourage more housing. Some communities have restricted most short-term rentals to homes and apartments where the owner lives on the premises, while conversions in other places have raised concerns that workers and their families will be left homeless. Short-term rental operator Chris Korzen cautions that regulations should balance the demand for housing with the economic value of tourist lodging.
Portland Press Herald (08/03/22) Peter McGuire
