Maui housing crisis erupts after Lahaina wildfire, focus on rentals

LAHAINA, Hawaii: The wildfire on August 8 in Lahaina, Maui, which killed 101 people and destroyed the homes of 6,200 families, has intensified Maui's already acute housing shortage and highlighted the effect of holiday rentals in the town.

In response, lawmakers across Hawaii are considering bills that would give counties the authority to phase out short-term vacation homes.

In a recent news conference, Governor Josh Green stressed, "This fire uncovered a clear truth, which is we have too many short-term rentals owned by too many individuals on the mainland, and it is b---t! And our people deserve housing here."

Supporters of vacation rentals say they boost the tourism sector, which is Hawaii's biggest employer, but critics stress they inflate housing costs, upend neighborhoods, and push locals and Native Hawaiians to leave Hawaii for less expensive states.

Nonprofit the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement said at least 1,500 households in Lahaina, a quarter of those who lost their homes, have left since the August wildfire due to high housing costs.

However, an analysis by the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization found that as of February 2023, only 7.5 percent of housing units in Lahaina were holiday rentals.

In 1992, Maui County allowed owners to rent units for less than 180 days without short-term rental permits. However, since November, campaigners have occupied the beach before Lahaina's most prominent hotels to encourage the mayor or governor to use their emergency powers to revoke this exemption.

State Rep. Luke Evslin said Maui and Kauai counties have suffered net losses of residential housing in recent years due to a paucity of new construction and the conversion of many homes to short-term rentals.

"Every alarm bell we have should be ringing when we are literally going backwards in our goal to provide more housing in Hawaii," he said.

In response, short-term rental owners said a phase-out would violate their property rights and take their property without compensation, potentially pushing them into foreclosure, and some said they would take legal challenges.

Some areas in West Maui are intended for travelers and lack schools and other family infrastructure, said Alicia Humiston, president of the Rentals by Owner Awareness Association.

"This area in West Maui that is sort of like this resort apartment zone, that's all north of Lahaina. It was never built to be local living," Humiston said.

Courtney Lazo, a real estate agent who is part of Lahaina Strong, the group occupying Kaanapali Beach, said tourists can stay in her hometown now but many locals cannot.

"How do you expect a community to recover and heal and move forward when the people who make Lahaina, Lahaina, are not even there anymore? They are moving away," Lazo said.