Airbnb wants more renters – and not just homeowners – to be able to list their homes on its short-term rental platform. To that end, the company on Friday announced that it is doubling down on efforts to work with state and local governments to advocate for short-term rental rules that don’t put up too many obstacles to people making money on the side. Except, this comes at a time when some areas have responded to the company’s platform with some skepticism. New York City, for example, has argued that the likes of Airbnb make the overall rents higher and disrupt neighborhoods, both by removing housing from available supply and by having strangers pop in and out of otherwise stable one-family communities. Airbnb, for its part, says its activities bring economic benefits to its hosts and the communities they’re a part of. But rather than fighting the negative perceptions of Airbnb’s model, the company is embracing them – and promising to help renters, in addition to landlords, make use of its listing site.
This past week, Airbnb secured a significant victory in this regard in Virginia when Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed a bill into effect requiring that all localities that grant short-term lease licenses to property owners should also issue equivalent permits to lessees who have obtained authorization from their property owner.
“Obviously, we all want everyone to be thoughtful,” he said. “We want hosts to be good hosts, and we want guests to be good guests.”
