France: Airbnb automatically caps rental offers in central Paris

Airbnb is capping the number of days per year its users can rent out their properties in central Paris.

The popular home rental app, which has had run-ins with regulators around the world, will only allow hosts to rent for 120 days per year. This will bring users in line with France’s official laws on short-term rentals, according to Reuters. A “nights hosted” counter will be added to users’ profiles to help track the number of nights they’ve already rented out their homes.

The move was considered insufficient by Parisian officials because it will not apply to the whole city.

The rental cap will only apply to Paris’ first four districts (or “arrondissements”) unless the host has authorisation to rent a property for longer. This means it could be harder to find an Airbnb next door to popular tourist spots such as the Louvre, Notre-Dame cathedral and the Marais. (The Eiffel Tower, in the seventh arrondissement, is safe for now.)

Last December Airbnb limited the number of days users could rent out their properties per year in London and Amsterdam to 90 and 60 days respectively. Meanwhile property owners in San Francisco have been limited to 60 days per year.

“Paris is the number one city in the world for Airbnb and we want to make sure our community grows responsibly and sustainably. While experts across the world agree that Airbnb has no significant impact on the housing market, we want to do our bit to address historic housing concerns in Central Paris and help make this city a better place for everyone. We know this solution is effective, targets bad actors and is free for everyone, and we hope other platforms will follow and introduce similar measures to promote responsible and sustainable travel in Paris,” said Emmanuel Marill, General Manager for Airbnb in France.

Full Content: Wall Street Journal

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