Excerpt from BBC
Millions of people use Airbnb when travelling but its popularity sometimes puts it at odds with locals. So, how do short-term holiday lets really affect a neighbourhood?
In the decade since it was launched, online home rental platform Airbnb has amassed millions of rooms worldwide.
But it has also found itself entangled in disputes with authorities from Tokyo to Berlin to San Francisco.
Similar issues recur:
- the number of nights each year a property can be rented out
- the hiring of entire homes
- licensing
- tax requirements
- how rules should be enforced
While Airbnb opens up some neighbourhoods to more tourists, it has sometimes proved unpopular with existing residents.
Some fear property owners are switching from long-term tenancies to short-term rentals, which can be more lucrative.
In Manhattan's Lower East Side, for example, one study found that full-time Airbnb listings earned, on average, two to three times the median long-term rent.
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