New York: Why renting a place on Airbnb for a short time has become a real headache

Romain Rouillard / Photo credit: LORENZO DI COLA / NURPHOTO / NURPHOTO VIA AFP 16:51 pm, September 08, 2023

You will probably have noticed it if you have been looking for accommodation for your next trip to New York. Finding a property on dedicated platforms, starting with Airbnb, is not a sinecure. In fact, it has even become a real obstacle course since the entry into force of a new regulation on Tuesday, September 5.

For three days, owners must comply with drastic conditions to rent their property. First of all, it is requested to register with the city of New York and comply with the new rules in force. Starting with the number of travelers welcomed, now limited to two, and necessarily in the presence of the owners. Failure to meet these criteria — which only apply to rentals of less than 30 days — is punishable by a $5,000 fine. While waiting for owners to comply with the new rules of the game, many properties have been removed from the Airbnb platform. According to online media outlet Skift, the city has accepted 257 applications out of nearly 3,250 applications.

4,000 euros per month for a two-room apartment in Manhattan

This open war against Airbnb (but also Booking.com or Abritel) is to be read through the prism of the housing crisis from which "Big Apple" has been suffering for many years. The online rental agency Zumper, which estimates the average price of New Yorak rents, provides a better understanding of the extent of the phenomenon. Thus, it is necessary to pay 3,720 euros per month for a two-room while the price of a studio can easily approach the bar of 3,000 euros monthly. In Manhattan, the rent of a two-room apartment can even reach 4,000 euros, according to an article by NBC New York, spotted by Le Parisien.

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This is why New York City wants to reduce the number of rentals dedicated to tourism in order to direct them to the inhabitants of the "Big Apple" and thus lead to a mechanical drop in prices. A logic denounced by Airbnb, which has even decided to file two complaints against the New York municipality before "preserving host activity in the city". An approach that did not bear fruit, the two complaints having been rejected, says the platform on its website.

Other municipalities have also taken similar measures against the property rental giant. Including Paris where, since 2019, owners can not rent their accommodation on the platform more than 120 days a year. A duration reduced to 90 days in Berlin in Germany and reduced to 30 in Amsterdam in the Netherlands.