The Florida Vacation Rental Management Association (FLVRMA) today released a Mason-Dixon poll showing that Floridians overwhelmingly support short-term vacation rentals. Almost 90 percent of registered Florida voters believe that Floridians should have the right to rent out a secondary home as a vacation rental.
“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,” said Nikki DeVeronica, President of FLVRMA. “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.”
The Florida Legislature may soon contemplate a measure to protect the rights of private property owners and create statewide standards for vacation rentals. This will be applauded by Floridians, since the poll also found that a strong majority of Floridians—74 percent—agree that regulations for vacation rentals should be consistent throughout the state.
A 2013 study commissioned by the Florida Vacation Rental Management Association found that vacation rentals infused more than $31.1 billion into Florida’s economy, and one can expect that impact has only increased in recent years.
The poll further found that Floridians recognize the significance of this impact, with 63 percent agreeing that vacation rentals are very important to Florida’s economy and an additional 30 percent believing that short-term vacation rentals are somewhat important.
The strong support of vacation rentals and consistent statewide regulations spanned across all geographies and political affiliations.
The poll was conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategy from January 14 through January 17, 2019. A total of 625 registered Florida voters were interviewed statewide by telephone. The margin for error is no more than ± 4 percentage points.
