In The News

Written by Jared A. Brock is an award-winning biographer, PBS documentarian, and the cell-free founder of the popular futurist blog Surviving Tomorrow, where he provides thoughtful people with contrarian perspectives on the corporatist anti-culture. His writing has appeared in Esquire, The Guardian, Smithsonian, USA Today, and TIME Magazine. (2022)

Well written and researched article that delves into many of the challenges Airbnb has on its plate as it turn 13 years old such as illegal listings, crime & safety related concerns, its impact on housing markets, backlash from neighbors, the increase in local STR regulations & its struggle to achieve profitability. (2021)

Researchers in the United States say there is a link between Airbnb rentals and violent crime in cities. Researchers found there was a positive correlation between higher penetration of Airbnb properties in an area – for example buildings containing multiple Airbnb lets – and a rise in violence. (2021)

Company provided money and support when a New York high school teacher was found unconscious in a rented villa in Mexico. Her father now says the family was caught up in an effort to avoid a ‘public relations nightmare.’ (2021)

When things go horribly wrong during a stay, the company’s secretive safety team jumps in to soothe guests and hosts, help families—and prevent PR disasters.

‘Airbnb has secretive ‘black box’ team paying out $50 million a year to keep disaster stays out of press and gives staff blank checks to help rape victims and clean-up dismembered human remains’

In early June 2023, the mayor of the Italian city of Florence announced an immediate ban on new short-term rentals in its UNESCO-protected historic center. The measure follows efforts by local authorities worldwide to regulate the expansion of Airbnbs, second homes and short-term rentals due to overtourism and a worsening housing crisis. CNBC examines the impact of the commercialization of housing and whether restrictions on short-term rentals can work.

Guests lavish praise on Jojo’s Blue House, a five-bedroom craftsman blocks from the Alberta Arts District. It boasts accommodations for 10 guests, organic cotton bedding, views of Mount Hood, a gallery of works by local artists and a “kitchen stocked for all your culinary adventures.“

The morning after a wedding in Vermont this summer, my friends were recovering in a hot tub while I battled a garbage disposal. And scrubbed the kitchen counter. And stripped the bed. And took out the recycling. Everyone was blissed-out at a hotel before braving the six-hour drive back to New York—except my boyfriend and me, who made the mistake of staying at an Airbnb. Despite the $95 cleaning fee, we were stuck completing a baffling list of pre-checkout chores.

I was an early user of Airbnb. When it first came out in 2008, it seemed perfect for traveling with big groups, and I was in that stage of life where there was always a wedding or a bachelorette party to go to.

Sharing our homes has been commonplace for as long as there have been spare rooms and comfortable couches. Whether through word of mouth, ads in newspapers or flyers on community bulletin boards, renters and homeowners alike have always managed to rent out or share rooms in their living spaces.

Governments across the country struggle to manage the impacts of short-term rentals (STRs), like Airbnbs, and
the sharing economy more generally. Existing research is sparse and tends to focus on large cities or metropolitan areas. Focusing on 237 small cities in Oregon, this study relies on descriptive data from Airbnb, AirDNA, Oregon Department of Revenue, and the U.S. Census to examine the prevalence and characteristics of Airbnbs, revenue potential from lodging taxes, and the impact on long-term housing supply.

This report analyzes short-term rentals (STRs) in the province of British Columbia, with a focus on commercial STRs and their impact on the province’s housing market. It provides an overview of STRs in the province, including their geographic location and levels of commercial activity. It analyzes the impacts of STRs on housing availability and affordability. Finally, it lays out a set of STR regulatory principles for BC, based on Canadian best practices.

Local, regional, and state governments across the country struggle to manage the impacts of short-
term rentals (STRs), and the sharing economy more generally. Often referred to as vacation rentals,
STRs are not new to the housing market yet, in the last decade, technology has greatly influenced
their prevalence. Private, web-based businesses such as Airbnb, VRBO, HomeToGo, LUXbnb,
CouchSurfing, HomeAway, FlipKey, and VaCasa, have given people access to a user-friendly, global
marketplace for home sharing

The rapid expansion of short-term rental platforms (or STRs) has raised concerns among legislators seeking to regulate companies like Airbnb, a leading online hosting platform at the forefront of conversations surrounding the short-term rental market. Two Purdue University economists, Ralph Siebert and Zaiyan Wei, have independently examined the effects of regulating Airbnb to learn if short-term rentals pose a threat to housing affordability and/or competition.