3 ms·

Last time a was in London on six month contract, Airbnb was more affordable option. Normal landlord wanted an arm and leg.

nervousvarun 7y ago
Right and that's essentially the point. It's fantastic for "tourists" (even though you were there 6 months you were essentially a tourist) at the expense of residents. Unfortunately see it every day as I'm based in New Orleans which is a tourism-dependent city and ABNB has just been devastating for locals who can't afford to buy property.
- jankotek 7y ago
  I was a resident, I payed taxes and everything. This local versus tourists stuff is just xenopfobia. Why you don't blame city hall that refuses to build new housing, and d milks tourism for everything at expenses of locals?
  - nervousvarun 7y ago
    Agree 100% that there is blame that should go towards local government. Especially in the U.S. local government is far too slow to react to an effective paradigm shift like AirBnb has been in the rental market. Far too slow.
  - mytherin 7y ago
    The distinction is short term vs long term, that has nothing to do with xenophobia. AirBnB reduces the price of short term stays (six months is short term - long term rental contracts typically start at 1 year), but has a significant negative effect on people that stay in the city long term. AirBnB converts homes intended for long term residents and repurposes them as housing for short term stays. This significantly reduces the supply of houses in a market that already has a low supply, causing an immense spike of housing cost for those staying in the city long term. The fact that something else exists that also contributes to this problem does not take away the immense negative effects that AirBnB has, that's just whataboutism.
    - jankotek 7y ago
      City hall is 100% responsible for housing shortage. High rise build would fix low supply problem pretty quickly (see Tokio). How many apartments are on Airbnb? 10%? And probably only in centre. And some people like me actually stay in airbnbs long term. It is easy to negotiate reasonable price outside of tourist season. Normal landlord is way too expensive and does not bother with basic maintenance. It is xenophobia, because many cities are blaming their problems on 'tourists'. But those are often foreign workers and students.
DanBC 7y ago
You get some extra legal protections with a normal landlord. With an assured shorthold tenancy in England it's quite difficult to evict tenants in the first six months; deposits must be protected and held by an independent organisation; there are some legally mandated safety checks, etc etc.

nervousvarun 7y ago

Right and that's essentially the point. It's fantastic for "tourists" (even though you were there 6 months you were essentially a tourist) at the expense of residents. Unfortunately see it every day as I'm based in New Orleans which is a tourism-dependent city and ABNB has just been devastating for locals who can't afford to buy property.

jankotek 7y ago
I was a resident, I payed taxes and everything. This local versus tourists stuff is just xenopfobia. Why you don't blame city hall that refuses to build new housing, and d milks tourism for everything at expenses of locals?
- nervousvarun 7y ago
  Agree 100% that there is blame that should go towards local government. Especially in the U.S. local government is far too slow to react to an effective paradigm shift like AirBnb has been in the rental market. Far too slow.
- mytherin 7y ago
  The distinction is short term vs long term, that has nothing to do with xenophobia. AirBnB reduces the price of short term stays (six months is short term - long term rental contracts typically start at 1 year), but has a significant negative effect on people that stay in the city long term. AirBnB converts homes intended for long term residents and repurposes them as housing for short term stays. This significantly reduces the supply of houses in a market that already has a low supply, causing an immense spike of housing cost for those staying in the city long term. The fact that something else exists that also contributes to this problem does not take away the immense negative effects that AirBnB has, that's just whataboutism.
  - jankotek 7y ago
    City hall is 100% responsible for housing shortage. High rise build would fix low supply problem pretty quickly (see Tokio). How many apartments are on Airbnb? 10%? And probably only in centre. And some people like me actually stay in airbnbs long term. It is easy to negotiate reasonable price outside of tourist season. Normal landlord is way too expensive and does not bother with basic maintenance. It is xenophobia, because many cities are blaming their problems on 'tourists'. But those are often foreign workers and students.

DanBC 7y ago

You get some extra legal protections with a normal landlord. With an assured shorthold tenancy in England it's quite difficult to evict tenants in the first six months; deposits must be protected and held by an independent organisation; there are some legally mandated safety checks, etc etc.