Airbnb agrees to limit private rentals in London and Amsterdam
Site came under pressure after complaints the booming house sharing sector can lead to illegal hotels and contribute to housing shortages
Airbnb will start enforcing limits to private home rentals in two popular European cities on the home-sharing platform, London and Amsterdam, the company said on Thursday.
The move comes amid complaints from some cities that the booming house sharing sector can lead to illegal hotels and contribute to housing shortages.
We want to be good partners for everyone in the city and ensure home sharing grows responsibly and sustainably
In London, Airbnb said it will “introduce new and automated limits to help ensure entire home listings in London are not shared for more than 90 days”, unless hosts prove they have permission to share their space for longer. The new measures will be in place by spring 2017.
The Dutch capital and the online rental service said that they will work together to ensure that home owners can only rent out their properties for a maximum of 60 days per year.
Amsterdam had introduced its limit earlier but Airbnb said that from January 1 its site will introduce automated tools to ensure homes aren’t listed for more than 60 days a year unless the owners have a license.
“A home should remain a home,” Amsterdam alderman Laurens Ivens said. “With this new approach we are showing that working together with platforms such as Airbnb gives the city a new and efficient weapon to tackle illegal hotels.”