London, Amsterdam Fight Back Against Airbnb

At the moment these statutory limitations apply only to London and Amsterdam.

The Dutch capital and the online rental service said Thursday that they will work together to ensure that home owners can only rent out their properties for a maximum of 60 days per year, in a move created to curb complaints about illegal hotels.

“Airbnb’s co-operation in enforcing the 90-day rule is the missing link in ensuring that planning law is abided by in the capital”.

There are 14,608 entire homes with availability of 90 days or more during the year out of a total of 49,348 listings in London, some of which are duplicates, according to data from the independent researcher Inside Airbnb. San Francisco and NY have also been cracking down on the service.

In addition, the San Francisco-based company pledged to remove “unwelcome” commercial operators in London under plans that will be in place by spring 2017. Home rentals in Amsterdam also face a 60-day cut-off.

While Mayor Ed Lee has until next week to decide whether to veto the bill, the Board of Supervisors is one vote shy of the super-majority needed to override the mayor’s veto.

AirBnB earlier this year filed to raise $850m in funds, valuing the company at around $30bn.

Lawmakers and housing advocates around the globe have criticized Airbnb for reportedly contributing to higher rents and housing crunches.

Some have blamed Airbnb for exacerbating the housing crisis, arguing that hosts were using the site, designed for short-term stays, to take homes out of the housing supply. A cap on short-term rentals could encourage landlords to offer more long-term leases.

“The typical Airbnb host in London earns £3,500 by sharing their space for 50 nights a year and the Airbnb community generated an economic impact of more than £1.3 billion in London last year”.

Airbnb, for the first time, agreed to enforce limits on how many nights its users can rent out rooms. “This shows that you can achieve positive results when policymakers and AirBnB work together”, he added.

Laurens Ivens, Amsterdam Alderman responsible for housing, said: “A home should remain a home”.