The business said on Friday that it is increasing its efforts to collaborate with state and local authorities in support of laws governing short-term rentals that do not prohibit tenants from engaging in the profitable side business of using their property to generate additional revenue.
However, this action is being taken as some regions are resisting the company. For instance, New York City has maintained that platforms for short-term rentals, such as Airbnb, can disrupt communities and reduce the supply of available homes, which raises rents generally. Conversely, Airbnb contends that its services can help communities and hosts financially.
After years of restrictions in many regions, Airbnb now states that it wants to assist both landlords and renters who list their homes on the platform.
Theo Yedinsky, vice president of public policy at Airbnb, told CNN that “many of the early laws that were made limited short-term rental to homeownership.”
Yedinsky continued, “And this mission is baked into Airbnb’s roots,” citing the company’s founding in 2007 when two of its co-founders were unable to pay San Francisco rent and had to accommodate some visitors staying on air mattresses while they were in the city for a design conference.
“That’s how they paid their rent in the early days,” he said, referring to co-founder Joe Gebbia and his current CEO, Brian Chesky.
When Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed a bill into law earlier this week requiring all towns that grant short-term rental permits to property owners to also grant these permits to tenants who have approval from their property owner, Airbnb achieved a significant win on this front in Virginia.
Del. Don Scott, the first black speaker of Virginia’s House of Delegates, led the initiative for the legislation.
With rising mortgage rates and down payment requirements making homeownership seem increasingly unattainable for younger Americans, as well as rising inflation and cost-of-living bills placing a significant burden on customers, Airbnb has shifted its focus to supporting renters who host on the platform.
Furthermore, the homeownership disparity between whites and blacks is now even more pronounced than it was ten years ago.
“A chance for people in communities that have been disenfranchised or lower-income communities to really take advantage of what Airbnb does best,” according to Yedinsky, is provided by allowing renters to make extra money through Airbnb.
However, in order to host on Airbnb, these renters will still need to obtain authorization from their landlord (Airbnb does not participate in individual lease arrangements between property owners and tenants). Furthermore, a lot of big cities, including New York, are toughening up on and severely limiting the short-term renting industry.
Currently renting his two-bedroom apartment, Rahul Bhaskar is a tech consultant based in San Francisco. About three years ago, his building management granted him permission to host on Airbnb as part of the program called Airbnb-friendly apartments, which aims to help renters generate additional income.
The rent has subsequently crept back up to pre-pandemic levels, according to Bhaskar, who told CNN that he and his wife moved into their flat when it was cheaper due to the pandemic.
“We were thinking of moving back to the suburbs, or possibly to another part of the city,” Bhaskar stated. However, he added that in order to help defray the mounting expenses, he and his wife decided to rent out their house on Airbnb while they travel for work and on their yearly travels back to India.
He told CNN, “It kind of works out well for us.” “And we managed to stay in the same apartment going forward.”
Yedinsky stated, “I don’t think there’s anything different about renters listing their space on Airbnb versus homeowners listing their space on Airbnb,” in addition to the need for landlord consent.
He continued, “Obviously, we want everyone to be respectful.” “Good hosts are what we want, and good guests are what we want.”
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