Plurality Support Regulation
for Airbnb
Massive majority haven’t used the service in the last year,
though
Toronto, March 16th
– In a random sampling of public opinion taken by The Forum Poll™ among 966
Toronto voters, (47%) of respondents say that Airbnb should be regulated in
Toronto. (20%) say no, it should not be regulated, and (33%) say that they do
not know.
Those most likely to
support regulation include respondents aged 35-44 (52%) and 65 and over (49%),
earning $80,000-$100,000 (54%) and $100,000-$250,000 (57%), with a post
graduate degree (60%).
Those most likely to
oppose regulation include those aged 34 or under (26%) and living in the former
City of Toronto (28%).
Users versus non-users
The small sample that
reports using Airbnb in the last year (n=130) is still in favour of regulation
(41%) but the proportion of those against is quite high (38%).
Comparatively, those
who haven’t used Airbnb overwhelmingly support its regulation in Toronto (48%),
with only (16%) saying it should not be regulated, and more than a third (36%)
saying they do not know.
If regulation increases the cost, will people still use it?
Amongst users, a high
proportion would be less likely (42%) to use Airbnb if regulation increased the
cost, with (16%) of those being much less likely to use the service.
(36%) report they
would neither be less likely or more likely to use the service, with (15%)
saying they would be more likely to use it if the cost increased, and (6%) of
those would be much more likely.
Who is using Airbnb?
Amongst those
surveyed, (84%) reported that they had not used Airbnb in the past 12 months,
with (16%) saying they had. Those most likely to be using Airbnb are aged 34 or
less (25%), with a broad range of incomes from the least wealthy (21%) to the
most wealthy (21%), as well as those earning $40,000-$60,000 (18%) and
$60,000-$80,000 (19%), with a post-graduate degree (22%), and living in the
former City of Toronto (29%). Supporters
of the Green Party (25%) and other parties (22%) are also most likely to have
used Airbnb in the past year.
“Most haven’t used
Airbnb in the past year, but the plurality thinks it should be regulated in
Toronto. Even those who use it think so, but the margin between yes and no is
much narrower amongst users, than non-users,” said Dr. Lorne Bozinoff,
President of Forum Research.
Lorne Bozinoff,
Ph.D. is the president and founder of Forum Research. He can be reached at
lbozinoff@forumresearch.com or at (416) 960-9603.
