Faced with the expansion of online rental platforms, there seems to be a growing consensus between many cities that intelligent regulation is needed to limit or prevent their negative impacts. And Rio is no exception: Vidigal – an area which has long been subject to gang violence and police “pacification” interventions – is already facing significant pressures from gentrification. Without proper regulation, ORPs are likely to intensify gentrification and displacement in favelas, rather than provide income support for Rio’s poorest residents….

Want to list your Vancouver home on AirBnB? You might soon need a business license for that. The city is crafting a new short-term-rental bylaw which could go into effect by the end of the year. Councillor Geoff Meggs says the city has growing concerns the rentals are eating into already scarce rental housing stock…

While Vancouver sits at a low 0.6 per cent long-term rental vacancy rate, independent analysis of the rental market gathered over the past year has found more than 5,000 units listed up as short-term rentals, of which 85 per cent are listed through Airbnb…

New data shows Vancouver has more than 5,000 properties available for short-term rentals, a total called “worrisome” by the councillor spearheading the city’s efforts to tighten rules for services like Airbnb. “I think it’s worrisome,” said Coun. Geoff Meggs of the tally of 5,000 short-term accommodations, one of the figures included in a Sunday release from the City of Vancouver. “But I’m not surprised by it.”…

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – New numbers suggest that of the 5,000 units that are rented out on sites such as Airbnb in Vancouver, the vast majority, 75 per cent, are entire homes, condos or apartments…

The City of Vancouver has just released details from a report by a consulting firm that analyzed short-term rentals in the city. The new analysis shows there were more than 5,000 short-term rentals listed in 2015 on sites such as Airbnb and Flipkey…

Councilmember Tim Burgess told an impassioned audience that short-term rentals account for 12 percent of available housing inventory in Seattle last week at a meeting of the Affordable Housing, Neighborhoods, and Finance Committee…

Airbnb has come under fire for driving up housing costs in major cities. While the economics of whether or not home sharing are a cause of rising rents is still up for debate, Airbnb has gone from flat out denying they’re contributing to the problem to actually claiming they’re the solution…

Airbnb sued the city of Anaheim on Thursday, challenging a new city law that imposes fines on short-term rental sites for listing homes and apartments that violate the city’s rental regulations. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, marks the second time in so many months that the popular rental site has sued a city over regulations that target online rental sites over violations committed by hosts who use the sites….

The online room rental service Airbnb is taking to the radio with a call to legislators: Tax us, please. “Here at Airbnb, we support it,” the ad says, of a provision within an economic development bill that would tax Airbnb rentals at hotel rates. “Because if Massachusetts families pay taxes, we should too. And that’s why those of us at Airbnb paid for this message.”…