The number of options for Airbnb users looking for a weekend jaunt in New York City has dwindled by 15,000 listings.
Just 3,400 New York City apartments are still available for short-term bookings on the vacation rental site Airbnb, according to data from a watchdog group – nearly 9,000 fewer full-property vacation rentals than the month before.
The listings were shifted as part of a new rule put into effect on Sept. 5 requiring short-term rental hosts to register with the city in order to get paid through sites like Airbnb. Listings for entire apartments, which are illegal in most cases, are barred from registering — amounting to what Airbnb called a “de facto ban” on the popular vacation rentals.
In order to comply with the rule, Airbnb switched many of the unregistered listings to long-term rentals, which are exempt from the requirement. The average New York City Airbnb now rents for at least 29 days — up from just 19 days in August.
Another 4,000 or so Airbnb listings were taken offline, estimates Murray Cox, who downloads data from the short-term rental site for the advocacy group Inside Airbnb.
Hundreds of the listings that were switched or removed actually weren’t illegal at all. These shared-apartment rentals met the stringent terms for legal rentals but had not yet been registered.
The registration process has been slow, Gothamist reported previously. As of Aug. 28, hosts had submitted 3,250 applications, about a quarter of which had been reviewed, according to data from the Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement, which is tasked with enforcing rules around short-term rentals.
“OSE’s initial phase of Local Law 18 enforcement has focused on collaborating with the booking platforms to ensure they are using the City’s verification system, and that legal activity remains and thrives on their sites,” said Christian Klossner, executive director of the Office of Special Enforcement. “This data corroborates Airbnb’s commitment to working with the City and compliance with the law.”
The registration portal opened in the spring, but close to half of the applications didn’t trickle in until after August, the office said — when a judge threw out a pair of lawsuits filed by Airbnb and hosts to try and stop the rules from going into effect.
It’s a huge shakeup for Airbnb and its peers, which aim to provide homier accommodations in neighborhoods with few hotels. Hosts who rely on the platform for income say the change will make it harder to pay their bills.
Housing advocates, meanwhile, argue that sites like Airbnb take desperately needed rental units off the market. They’ve said they hope the new rule will put an end to Airbnb entrepreneurs who buy up homes in gentrifying neighborhoods and rent them out for a living.
“If you were a legal host, complying with the laws of the city and state, you have nothing to worry about,” Tom Cayler, a supporter of the law who chairs the illegal hotels committee at the West Side Neighborhood Alliance, told Gothamist in June. “Contrarily, if you have been doing this illegally, you might want to find another way to make a living.”
Gothamist has reached out to Airbnb for comment.
Read the original article at https://gothamist.com/news/nyc-loses-15k-unlicensed-short-term-rentals-as-airbnb-rule-kicks-in
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