The home-sharing company Airbnb said it was forced to stop accepting certain bookings in New York after the new short-term rental regulations came into effect.
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The new rules aim to effectively put an end to the free market, in which owners and residents rented out their apartments by the week or night to tourists or others who were in the city for short stays. Advocates say this practice has led to an increase in demand for housing in the already limited neighborhoods of the city.
According to the new system, rentals of less than 30 days are allowed only if hosts register in the city. Hosts must also commit to being physically present in the home during the rental, sharing the living spaces with their guest. Also, no more than two guests are allowed at a time, which essentially excludes families.
Platforms like Airbnb, VRBO and others are not allowed to process rentals for unregistered hosts – and as of early this week, very few had successfully registered. The city says it has approved just 300 of the more than 3,800 applications it has received.
Officials and housing advocates who had pushed for the restrictions say they are necessary to stop apartments from being turned into de facto hotels.
“In New York, residential apartments must be designated for residential use”, said Murray Cox of Inside Airbnb, a housing advocacy group that collects data on the company's presence in cities worldwide.
Airbnb fought the rules in court, arguing that they essentially constitute a ban and that they will harm visitors seeking affordable accommodation.
The company's global policy director, Theo Yedinsky, described the rule changes as a blow for “the thousands of New York residents and the small businesses in the outer neighborhoods that rely on home sharing and tourism dollars to make ends meet”.
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“The city sends a clear message to millions of potential visitors that they will now have fewer accommodation options when they visit New York: “You are not welcome””, said.
The company was forced, however, to follow the new rules and stated that from August 21 it stopped accepting new short-term bookings from any host who had not provided either a city registration number or documents proving that it was in progress. Once the city's verification system is fully operational, Airbnb reports that no short-term listing will be allowed on its site without a registration number.
Airbnb had 38,500 active listings of non-hotel accommodations in New York in January, and some hosts of smaller homes said they are being treated unfairly and are being lumped together with the larger apartment buildings.
The regulations were adopted by the city in January of last year, but were postponed due to legal challenges until last month.
While online rental listing services have given travelers more options in New York City —and have been a financial boon for residents who rent out their homes while they're away on vacation—they've also led to complaints about scarce housing in residential neighborhoods being closed off to tourists.
The regular renters complained about buildings that suddenly resembled hotels, with strangers in the hallways and occasional parties in rented units. Investors bought units in buildings of opportunistic ownership or entire mansions, and then made a fortune by doing night rentals that were prohibited by law.
“Registration creates a clear path for hosts who follow the city's long-term laws and protects travelers from illegal and unsafe accommodations, while also ending the spread of illegal short-term rentals”, said Kristian Klosner, executive director of the city's special enforcement office.
In guidelines posted after the legal ruling last month, Airbnb told New York hosts that they must either register with the city or convert their hosting into long‑term stays, if possible.
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source of information:theguardian.com
