Local governments have been banning, taxing, or heavily regulating short term rentals all over the world in an attempt to dip their tax fingers into the Airbnb gravy train or keep getting kickbacks from hotels. 🙄Typical.
Annoying because those regulators are really just driving up the price of short term accommodations for a select few, and contributing to a shortage of housing for everyone by forcing vacation properties to sit vacant when an owner can only be there to use it (statistically) three or four weeks out of the year. It’s not all bad, curbing the greed of the rich buying more homes purely for short term rental profit is a good thing since, according to a Savills report, the primary motivation for ownership of these properties is the potential for rental income.
According to a 2018 MIT & Harvard study, researchers found that 42% to 63% of Airbnb stays would not have translated into hotel bookings if Airbnb weren’t available. Those travelers would have stayed with friends or family, spent fewer nights on vacation, or simply not taken the trip.
https://www.curbed.com/2018/10/2/17925738/property-airbnb-vacation-home-short-term-rental
Let’s look at that statistic again. 42 – 63 percent of Airbnb guests would have stayed with friends or family or simply not taken the trip. Well isn’t that neat. That seems great. Not only for more efficiency in limited housing use, but for the sake of community and family. Sharing more with those people you know could be enriching beyond the few dollars you might recoup renting to strangers. Friends might even leave you a nice bottle of wine.. hint hint.
So where are these regulations going in to effect? Firstly, popular vacation destinations and major cities worldwide, but small towns and outlying area local governments are getting increasingly strict about regulations. Have a look at some of these articles for a taste of the kinds of regulations and fines officials are trying to impose:
San Diego limits Airbnb rentals to primary residences only.
Asheville shuts down short-term rentals.
Kauai bans new vacation rentals.
Another 6% fee tacked on to Texas vacation rentals.
Chicago rejects 2,400 short-term rentals.
Only 770 of Oahu’s estimated 10,000 vacation rentals are legal.
Try Stayy, and stay out of the way of the swinging pendulum of fines and regulations being tried out on other peoples income properties across the worlds local, city, and state court rooms. Once the dust settles you can jump back in to the rental fray if it makes sense.
