Since a new law banning most short-term rentals on Airbnb went into effect in early September, Only 2% of the 22,000 in New York have registered in the city. But many illegal short-term rental listings are now advertised on social media and lesser-known platforms, and some appear to still appear on Airbnb itself.
The number of short-term rental listings on Airbnb has dropped by more than 80%, from 22,434 in August to just 3,227 on Oct. 1, according to Inside Airbnb, a watchdog group that tracks the platform. Bookings. But only 417 properties have been registered in the city, which suggests that very few of the city’s short-term rentals have been able to obtain permission to continue operating.
A new black market
The measure in New York has created a “black market” for short-term rentals in the city, according to Lisa Grossman, spokesperson for Restore Homeowner Autonomy and Rights (RHOAR), a local group that opposed the law. Grossman assures that, since the prohibition, The short-term rental market has gained strength on sites like Facebook. “People are hiding,” she clarifies.
New York’s crackdown on short-term rentals has radically reshaped the city’s vacation rental market. People use sites like Craigslist, Facebook, Houfy, and others, where they can search for guests or places to book without the checks and balances of booking platforms like Airbnb. Hotel prices expected to rise as demand rises.
If you search for a short stay on Airbnb, a few places appear scattered around the map. Many of those old listings have been converted to stays of 30 days or more, meaning they do not need to be registered.
AirDNA, a short-term rental intelligence company, found just 2,300 short-term rentals on Airbnb in New York City at the end of September. Stays advertised as long-term rentals now account for 94% of Airbnb listings in the city, according to AirDNA data. Hosts must meet strict requirements to be approved as short-term rentals. They can only have two guests and the host must be present in the home during the stay. This change banned many listings for entire apartments, except those that fell into the class B housing category, such as hotels, guesthouses, and clubs.
With the norm the trap is created
People are finding ways to get around the rules. Many Airbnb listings now include a space in the property description for hosts to enter a registration number or declare that they are exempt. WIRED searched Airbnb for stays in New York and found many short-term rentals that claim to be exempt from the city’s registration rules, but there are still several entire units available for short stays that don’t appear to be hotels or exempt units.
In an advertisement marked as exempt, the host asks guests to avoid interacting with the building concierge. In another ad, a host claims that he used to live in the apartment, but that he has moved to New Jersey and now rents it. One appears to be a townhouse in a mostly residential neighborhood of Brooklyn. Airbnb uses the city’s verification system to flag unregistered units. The company did not comment for this article on the specific announcements highlighted by WIRED. Nathan Rotman, regional head of public policy at Airbnb, assures that the company is “working closely” with the city in the application of the new registration law.
2023-10-09 18:02:22
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