Under the new restrictions, short-term renters will need to register with the city and must be present in the home for the duration of the rental
Home-sharing company Airbnb said it had to stop accepting some reservations in New York City after new regulations on short-term rentals went into effect.
The new rules are intended to effectively end a free-for-all in which landlords and residents have been renting out their apartments by the week or the night to tourists or others in the city for short stays. Advocates say the practice has driven a rise in demand for housing in already scarce neighbourhoods in the city.
Under the new system, rentals shorter than 30 days are only allowed if hosts register with the city. Hosts must also commit to being physically present in the home for the duration of the rental, sharing living quarters with their guest. More than two guests at a time are not allowed, either, meaning families are effectively barred.
Housing stock isn’t just total number of housing units, it’s available housing on the market. This will absolutely free up property that’s been hoarded off for AirBNB rentals
I would be interested to see stats on the impact of this a year down the line. From what I’ve seen, Airbnb has a very tiny percentage of actual housing stock, but (deservedly) disproportionate impact on public perception.
I do actually think it’s a small percentage, but it’s been reported that a lot of realtors/landlords have been running AirBNB’s in empty units fraudulently in order to skirt laws and regulations. Not sure if it’s still happening (I saw this reported maybe 3 years ago now?).
Institutional landlords make up a large chunk of the housing stock though, we need to combat that as well.
The Airbnb figures come direct from Airbnb, so there’s only so much inaccuracy possible.