Housing Issues
July 19, 2016
If you take light rail through downtown Seattle these days, it’s hard not to notice the glut of Airbnb ads. There are huge posters on station platforms featuring smiling Airbnb hosts with lines such as, “Our spare room financed our dream business.” The ads highlight Airbnb’s central message: that it is a service for people to generate some extra income by renting out their guest bedroom or no-longer-used kid’s room or whole house while they’re away. And while the majority of Seattle hosts fall into that category, some low-income housing advocates and elected officials are concerned about a growing trend of commercial investors buying up housing stock to list it on short-term rental platforms. They say losing long-term rentals to the short-term market will exacerbate the city’s existing problem with rising rents and displacement….
Housing Issues
June 27, 2016
Short-term rental companies like Airbnb are flooding New York City’s housing market, reducing available housing stock citywide by 10%, a new study has revealed.
Housing Issues
June 24, 2016
Bad news for Airbnb: The Los Angeles City Planning Commission approved Thursday a draft of regulations for short-term rental services that would impose fines and time limits for listings.
Housing Issues
June 24, 2016
Early this year, Mike Quinn, a lawyer in the art world, moved from the West Village to the East Village, into an apartment in an eight-unit building on Third Street between First and Second Avenues. The twin plagues of chain commerce and luxury residential towers have eradicated much of what distinguished the two neighborhoods historically, but Mr. Quinn noticed one big difference right away — all over the East Village, and where he lived in particular, people were hauling luggage around all the time. He began referring to his block as Suitcase Alley. Airbnb guests from around the world remain always in view.
Housing Issues
June 20, 2016
New Orleans should ban whole-home vacation homes and put the screws to listing websites such as Airbnb.com to ensure compliance with the rules, according to a recent statement issued by one of New Orleans’ most influential housing advocates.
Housing Issues
June 20, 2016
After years of watching the supply of affordable housing plummet, evictions and demolitions surge and landlords score quick profits with short-term rentals, Los Angeles officials are striking back.
Housing Issues
June 15, 2016
Recent research shows that more than a third of Airbnb homes/apartments for rent are by hosts who don’t even live in them.
Housing Issues
June 13, 2016
A Vancouver city Councillor is looking to book a solution to B.C.’s Airbnb question by taking taxes to the service itself.
Housing Issues
June 13, 2016
If the goal is to bring short-term-rentals out of the black market, New Orleans’ latest proposal might be dead on arrival.