Cities Are Cracking Down on Short-Term Rentals. Here’s How
Booking platforms such as Airbnb and Vrbo are increasingly faulted for limiting housing options for local residents and driving up rents.
Barcelona is banning short-term rentals in a bid to increase housing options for local residents.
Photographer: Manaure Quintero/BloombergCities around the world are imposing stricter rules for short-term rentals offered as vacation properties by the likes of Airbnb and Vrbo. Short-term bookings, often defined as stays shorter than a month, reduce the supply of long-term rentals in local markets and are frequently blamed for exacerbating housing shortages, inflating rents and threatening hospitality jobs.
Barcelona pledged an outright ban on short-term rentals in June, in one of the most aggressive policies so far. It had already forbidden the rental of private rooms within homes.