The Mad River Valley Short-Term Rental Survey results are in. The Mad River Valley Planning District developed the survey. It was conducted between August 29 and October 5 of this year.
The survey focused on three groups, those who own short-term rentals, those who don’t and those whose businesses are involved in taking care of or servicing short-term rentals.
Per the planning district, the survey is first step in a public engagement process of better understanding the impacts of short-term rentals in the community. The survey received 388 responses. Valley residents who do not own/operate a short-term rental provided 262 responses and short-term rental owners/operators provided 118 responses. There were eight responses from businesses and people in The Valley who provide goods and services to owners of short-term rentals and guests who rent them.
Of the total respondents, 30.6% live in Warren, 29.5% live in Fayston, 27.2% live in Waitsfield, 4.9% live out of The Valley and 7.8% live in another Valley town. Full-time residents made up 53% of the responses, part-time residents were 14.9% of the respondents, owners were 27% of the respondents and renters made up 3.6%.
A large majority of those who answered the survey had stayed in a short-term rental (STR) – 83.2%. Employers represented 23.4% of responses, with non-employers representing 76.6% of responses.
Survey responses were broken down into community members, short-term owners/operators and businesses that provide services. This group was asked if they were or would consider becoming an owner/operator of a STR in The Valley and 71.9% said no while 25.8% said yes. Asked if they lived in a STR, 66.2% said yes, 19 % said no and 14.8% were unsure.
In response to a question about challenges attributed to STRs in The Valley 38.9% reported disrespectful guests as an issue ( respondents could check as many impacts as they felt applied, so totals are greater than 100%), 42.2% cited impacts to the character of the neighborhood or look and feel of the area, 56.6% cited trash concerns, 56.6% cited long-term rental displacement, 37.7% cited noise concerns and 27.5% cited parking concerns.
In response to a question about whether there is a shortage of long-term housing in The Valley 96.1% said yes. Asked what that shortage could be attributed to, 59.4% said not enough housing has been built, 68.9% cited STRs, 68.9% said property prices for existing home prices and 73.7% cited property prices for buildable lots, 29.5% cited municipal regulations and 29.5% identified lack of infrastructure.
STR owners/operators were asked how may units they own and 41.5% own one non-owner occupied STR in The Valley, 9.3% own multiple units and 35.6% own an owner-occupied STR.
Of the respondents 41.5% are full-time Valley residents, 53.4% are seasonal resident or second-home owners and 6.8% are Vermonters who live outside of The Valley. Real estate investors with property in The Valley were 1.7% of the respondents.
Asked about owner occupied STRs 30.1% of respondents live on the property and manage it themselves, 25.7% are not owner occupied but managed by the owner, 57.5% are owned as second homes and rented when the property is not being used by the owner/family. Twenty-nine percent of respondents accept monthly rentals.
Respondents of non-owner occupied property were asked about prior uses of the property before it was offered as a STR. The responses showed that 23.5% of units were used as a primary residence, 8.6% had been occupied as a long-term rental, 7.4% had been an STR owned by someone else, 7.4% were renovated from a blighted or abandoned dwelling and 4.9% were built as STRs on vacant land.
To review complete survey results, visit https://mrvpd.org/2022/12/12/2022-mrv-short-term-rental-survey-results/
