Airbnb listings and other short-term vacation rentals in Hawaii are facing closure as the state grapples with a housing crisis exacerbated by last year’s Maui wildfires.
A bill that could revamp vacation rental regulations across the state passed the Senate and House on Wednesday and now awaits the signature of Hawaii Gov. Josh Green — who has already promised to sign it if he gets it on his desk. If signed, the new law will go into effect on Jan. 1.
SB2919 would give any county in Hawaii the authority to redefine zoning, including converting short-term rentals to long-term residential use, to “guide the overall future development of the county.” Anyone violating the law faces a fine of $10,000 per day.
Significant changes won’t happen overnight, but according to Hawaii Senator Jarrett Keohokalole, who introduced the bill, it’s the first major legislation to regulate short-term vacation rentals statewide.
“It’s huge,” Keohokalole told USA TODAY.
The law actually repeals a 1957 ordinance that evicted Native Hawaiians from their homes and converted their land into sugar cane plantations. Many of the other zoning ordinances are outdated, Keohokalole said, and do not reflect the influx of foreign investors or overtourism.
Should I visit Maui now? Maui businesses ask responsible tourists to support the economy after the fires
“We know that the majority of STRs (short-term rentals) in Hawaii are illegal, owned by non-residents, and contribute to skyrocketing housing costs,” Governor Green wrote on Xformerly Twitter, last week. “We support Senate Bill 2919, which allows counties to regulate and potentially phase out STRs.”
Housing affordability in Hawaii has worsened over the past two decades. A single-family home will cost four times as much in 2023 as it did in 2000, and fewer than a third of households can even afford the typical local home, according to the Hawaii Housing Factbook from the Economic Research Organization and the University of Hawaii. Rents also continue to rise, and Maui has the most expensive median rent in the state—a typical apartment costs $2,500 a month.
This is partly due to the high proportion of short-term rentals in Hawaii’s housing stock. About 30,000 of Hawaii’s 557,000 housing units, or 5.5 percent, are short-term rentals. In cities like Las Vegas, however, the figure is only 3 percent, the report says. It is even worse on Maui, where vacation rentals make up 15 percent of the island’s total housing supply.
The August wildfires that destroyed most of Lahaina and left thousands of West Maui residents homeless only exacerbated Maui’s housing crisis. “In Lahaina, we are in an emergency situation,” Jordan Ruidas of the Native Hawaiian-led community organization Lahaina Strong told USA TODAY.
“The fire destroyed most of our workers’ housing,” she said. “We are devastated and people are still waiting for long-term housing.”
Ruidas said about 3,000 displaced people are still living in hotels despite the fires that ravaged West Maui more than eight months ago. Some are leaving Hawaii altogether because they lack stable, long-term housing.
“It has become clear, at least in Lahaina and the surrounding community, that so much of the housing stock in this part of the island has been converted to vacation rentals that survivors are struggling to find a place to stay,” Keohokalole said.
Maui County Mayor Bissen has stated that he wants to “increase the supply of available long-term housing units for the people of Maui” and even proposed tax incentives in November for owners who convert their units into long-term housing.
“It’s not an inventory problem, it’s about inventory being used for something that doesn’t help the community,” Ruidas said.
Kathleen Wong is a travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Hawaii. Reach her at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: New Hawaii law cracks down on vacation rentals amid housing crisis
