Utah lawmaker plans to target illegal short-term rentals

SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah lawmaker has short-term rentals in his sights for the upcoming legislative session.

Rep. Neil Walter, R-St. George, said he plans to propose a repeal of a 2017 law that made it harder for cities to use an online listing as proof that someone is violating short-term rental rules.

That law currently prevents a city or county from prohibiting someone from listing a short-term rental on a short-term rental website, like Airbnb or Vrbo.

Walter said he wants to target short-term rentals that are operating illegally.

“We’re not telling the municipalities – the cities and counties – what to do,” Walter told KSL TV. “We’re just giving them the power to enforce their existing zoning ordinances the way that they were constructed and the way that they were intended.”

This comes as a new report is shedding light on the landscape of short-term rentals in the state.

How many short-term rentals are in Utah?

According to the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, Utah had just over 23,000 monthly short-term rental listings in 2023, which was up by 39.4% from 2021.

Overall, short-term rentals account for 1.9% of the state’s housing stock, said housing analyst Dejan Eskic. That number is still a “relatively low share,” he said, but it’s growing.

Read the full story and more from Daniel Woodruff on ksltv.com.

Keep reading: Report reveals growth in Utah short-term rental market