Florida: The Florida Vacation Rental Management Association (FLVRMA) has released a Mason-Dixon poll showing that the vast majority of Floridians support short-term vacation rentals.
Almost 90 per cent of registered Florida voters who took part in the poll said they believed they should have the right to rent out a secondary home as a vacation rental.
FLVRMA president Nikki DeVeronica said: “This poll clearly shows that Floridians believe it is time to embrace efforts to protect Florida’s short-term vacation rental industry, which plays a vital role in our tourism economy.
“Uniformity in regulations will protect Florida’s private property owners who have a right to rent out their properties whether it is for a day, a month, or a year. After all, private property owners are taxpaying, law-abiding Floridians who should not be overburdened by a hodgepodge of local regulations meant only to intimidate them from exercising their rights,” she added.
The Florida Legislature are believed to be considering proposing a measure to protect the rights of private property owners and create state-wide standards for vacation rentals. According to the latest poll by Floridians, 74 per cent of those polled agree that regulations for vacation rentals should be consistently applied throughout the state.
A 2013 study commissioned by the FLVRMA found that vacation rentals brought in more than $31.1 billion into Florida’s economy, and that figure is likely to have risen further in recent years.
The poll also found that Floridians recognise the significance of this impact, with 63 per cent agreeing that vacation rentals are very important to Florida’s economy.
The poll was conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategy from 14 January to 17 January 2019. A total of 625 registered Florida voters were interviewed state-wide by telephone for the poll, while the margin for error accounts for no more than four percentage points.
