Cape Town’s mayor, Geordin Hill-Lewis, just announced new tax plans for short-term rentals. Basically, if you’re running properties mainly for short-term rentals, you’ll be taxed differently.
Local folks are worried because all these Airbnbs are making it harder to find affordable housing in the city. Cape Town is super popular on Airbnb in South Africa, bringing in tons of tourists and digital nomads. The mayor says this has created about 100,000 jobs, which is great, but he thinks if you’re essentially running a hotel business, you should pay commercial rates like hotels do.
This won’t affect people just renting out a spare room or granny flat. It’s aimed at the big players – get this: just six hosts control over 680 Airbnb listings in Cape Town! Most of these are entire houses or apartments, which shows how concentrated the market has become.
Airbnb started as a way for travelers to save money and experience local culture by staying with residents. While many hosts (about half) say the income helps them cover their housing costs, the huge number of entire homes for rent suggests the platform has drifted from its original purpose.
The mayor also pointed out that slow housing approval processes (taking up to two years) aren’t helping. He thinks speeding these up and building more affordable housing will keep prices reasonable and make sure locals aren’t pushed out of their own city.
