Monthly news roundup – September 2018
This month in short-term rental news – more cities look to license, more homes trashed by Airbnbs gone wild, and why it pays to be neutral.
- More places are requiring short-term rental hosts to register and pay a license fee. This month there’s news from Miami, Taiwan and South Carolina. Does it work? Definitely it’s a great way to control problem rentals and raise extra revenue, but you need the right tech to enforce it.
- More homes trashed this month by Airbnbs gone out of control. This time it’s Auckland (300 schoolies…in one house), Melbourne (guests fighting, threatening neighbours, and stealing from other units), and Auckland again (footy fans gone to far). This is why strata groups want to let buildings choose to ban STRs completely. Hosts don’t vet guests like they’d vet tenants, and nobody wants to live in party hotel. The laws in Australia will have to catch up to the rest of the world at some point…
- What happens when a city cracks down only on Airbnb? The illegal activity just goes to other sites, like Booking.com and Tripadvisor. We saw it first in London, now it’s happening in Dublin. Dealing with the sites directly isn’t the answer, councils need policies and tech that are platform-neutral (like, ahem, BnbGuard).
Finally, a tragic reminder this month that injuries and deaths at a short-term rental, and damage to units from neighbouring short-term rentals, are usually not covered by any party’s insurance.
