Airbnb promises to play fair with cities

Airbnb dialed down its battle rhetoric Wednesday, promising to pay taxes and not cut into long-term housing amid criticism it unfairly competes with hotels and has exacerbated a San Francisco housing crisis.

The surging home-sharing startup released a so-called Community Compact in which it vowed to pay its “fair share” of hotel and tourist taxes.

It also pledged to be transparent with information about home sharing activity, and to work to prevent short-term rentals from biting into the availability of long-term housing.

The more cooperative tone was struck just a week after San Francisco voters rejected a measure that would have limited short-term housing rentals in what was seen as a referendum on Airbnb, which allows property dwellers and owners to rent out a room or an entire home for short periods.

“This Compact is just one step we are taking to help the cities that our hosts and guests call home,” Airbnb co-founder and chief executive Brian Chesky wrote in an online post.

People who offer rentals will be required to agree to a policy that homes being made available are permanent residences, according to Airbnb.

Airbnb critics claim the San Franciscobased “sharing economy” service unfairly competes with hotels, which face stricter regulations and taxes.

Some also claim the startup provides an incentive for property owners to toss out long-term residents and convert lodgings to short-term rentals, creating an upheaval in the traditional market for rentals. (AFP)