Major European cities come together to counter spread of Airbnb

Local authorities say they are struggling to fight housing shortages

Amsterdam was one of the cities to complain to the European Union. Roger Cremers

Ten cities have called on the European Union to help them counter the spread of Airbnb so they can address serious local housing shortages

Short-term holiday rentals caused “nuisances” and led to the “touristification” of neighbourhoods that resident did not want, said the joint letter by Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Bordeaux, Brussels, Krakow, Munich, Paris, Valencia and Viena.

“European cities believe that homes should be used first and foremost for living in,” they said.

“Many cities suffer from a serious housing shortage. Where homes can be used more lucratively for renting out to tourists, they disappear from the traditional housing market, prices are driven up even further and housing of citizens who live and work in our cities is hampered.”

A recent non-binding decision by an Advocate General at the European court of justice said Airbnb should be regarded as a digital service provider under EU legislation as opposed to real estate agents. If brought into law this would mean Airbnb could operate across the bloc and not have to follow local holiday letting rules.

The cities said local authorities needed to be able to enact their own regulations to be able to counter the problems caused by company’s like Airbnb.

“For this, we need strong legal obligations for platforms to cooperate with us in registration-schemes and in supplying rental-data per house that is advertised on their platforms,” a statement by the ten cities said.

The ruling, if confirmed by the court, would mean Airbnb would not have to provide municipalities with the information to help prevent violations at a local or national level, such as the maximum number of days allowed.

“Where platforms claim that they are willing to cooperate with the authorities, in practice they don’t or only do so on a voluntary basis,” the ten cities said.

“Homes needed for residents to live and work in our cities, will become more and more considered as a market for renting out to tourists. We think that cities are best placed to understand their residents’ needs.”