Airbnb clampdown won’t fix housing crisis
WHILE the Government might have the best of intentions, the proposed new Airbnb regulations I do not believe that it will do anything to help the housing shortage.
It’s seems like such an easy target to send a message that ‘something’ is being done about this crisis, but it won’t make any difference.
I think that if a person has a property which they purchased as an investment, why shouldn’t they use Airbnb to advertise it without having to jump through hoops to do so?
If they are tax compliant, then it is their own business what they do with their own property but instead an attempt is being made to make it so difficult to entertain these rolling short lettings that they will be pushed into being long-term landlords.
This will not encourage Airbnb subscribers to suddenly start taking in tenants just because it has become difficult to operate as a short term landlord.
They could be in that game already if they wanted to, yet there are many reasons why people opt for Airbnb.
If such legislation is introduced, it will be very hard to enforce so we could end up with a load of hullabaloo with no real outcome or change.
It’s not the responsibility of those with ‘extra’ properties to solve the housing crisis.
It is the Government’s and they need to start building houses. That is the only way that matters will improve and they will finally be able to move those caught in this terrible trap to long-term social housing.
Platforms such as Airbnb contribute greatly to tourism and offer accommodation to guests in locations which are not saturated with hotels or guest houses.
Putting a 90-day limit on exempt primary residences for home share lettings or full properties without planning approval is completely unnecessary and is simply going to create a load of red tape for people who don’t even make a very large income from their properties.
The aim seems to be to force the larger commercial Airbnb landlords to move some of their properties into the mainstream rental market but I cannot see this happening.
Even with the change of use application, insurance and rates increases, there is still more money to be made through the short term market.