Airbnb hints it will ban landlords from listing multiple properties in housing-crunched cities
Getty Images/Bloomberg
CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky on Wednesday posted a blog announcing a couple of policy changes at the company.
The post is somewhat vaguely worded, so it's unclear exactly what Airbnb plans to do or how. Airbnb offered a few more details with its "Community Compact" policy.
But the essence is this: he hinted that Airbnb will openly share with cities more data about Airbnb use and is taking steps to improve its image.
It's a change in attitude for the seven-year-old startup which has a $25 billion valuation. In the past, some cities, like New York sued to get Airbnb to hand over data.
Airbnb isn't promising to share the level of detailed data that New York sued for, which included specific names of people using Airbnb to list multiple properties - what the state attorney general called "illegal" hotels. It says it will share aggregate data, like the amount of income earned by a typical Airbnb host.
But Chesky's comments suggest the company is trying to mend the relationship with cities. He hinted that in cities where there was a housing shortage, Airbnb would somehow ban people from renting out their investment properties (like a condo). Everyone would be limited to using the home-rental site only for their own permanent residences.
We asked Airbnb in which cities would this policy would apply and Airbnb declined to comment, telling us only that Airbnb was looking at it on a city-by-city basis.
Certainly, San Francisco and New York are likely candidates. New York already has laws on the books that severely restrict short-term rentals. And last summer, San Francisco passed a law that allows landlords to use Airbnb for only 90 days per calendar year.
Proposition F sought to restrict short-term rentals much more. And it became an ugly battle which divided the city. Many people love using Airbnb to find short-term rentals. Many landlords love renting their properties through it. But others believe Airbnb is hurting an already ridiculously tight and expensive rental market.
Airbnb didn't do itself any favors with a billboard campaign that touted and joked about the $12 million in hotel taxes generated by Airbnb users. The ads infuriated some San Francisco residents and Airbnb pulled the ads down and tweeted an apology.
Proposition F was defeated last week, but not by a landslide: 55% against to 44%.
So with that as background, Chesky is changing Airbnb's policy to try and work with cities and homeowners so it's no longer seen as a rental market villain.
Here's the relevant snippet of Chesky full blog post (emphasis ours):
Today, we're taking the next step to turn these principles into concrete actions by releasing the Airbnb Community Compact. There are three commitments that are part of this Compact:
We are committed to treating every city personally and helping ensure our community pays its fair share of hotel and tourist taxes.
We are committed to being transparent with our data and information and we will help cities understand the home sharing activity in their community while simultaneously honoring our commitment to protect our hosts' and guests' privacy.
In cities where there is a shortage of long-term housing, we are committed to working with our community to prevent short-term rentals from impacting the availability of long term housing by ensuring hosts agree to a policy of listing only permanent homes on a short-term basis.
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