EU denies siding with renting lobby in fight to curb Airbnb
European officials have denied siding with the tourism industry after a report claimed the European Commission consistently ruling in favour of renting platforms such as Airbnb against local councils.
The Corporate Europe Observatory, an organization fighting to control Airbnb rentals to ensure citizens of European cities can access decent housing and sustainable tourism, believes the European Commission is consistently working to interpret EU rules in favour of the tourist accommodation platforms.
In their 'UnfairBnB' rerport, released earlier this month, the organisation said Airbnb was lobbying the EU to fight measures to protect affordable housing in cities across Europe, as local councils try to reign in the rental platforms.
They also found that within two years the lobby spending of Airbnb increased from less than €100,000 to just under €500,000 in 2016.
The EU responded last week that as with any other sector it had many meetings with a “wide range” of representatives from the tourist accommodation business, but it remains neutral.
Kenneth Haar, author of UnfairBnB, said: “Airbnb is under a lot of pressure locally across Europe, and they’re trying to use the top-down power of the EU institutions to fight back.”
Recently listings for these flats have skyrocketed and there are worries that these properties are removing tens of thousands of homes from the residential rental markets. Especially, those flats bought by professional landlords who seek to earn a fortune from holiday renting. Cities like Berlin and Barcelona are already fighting back and trying to root out illegal or unlicensed renting.
Spanish newspaper ABC reported on Monday that in April 2018, the platform offered 15,300 properties in the Spanish capital, back in the same period in 2014, the company listed barely 4,000 apartments.
Data from AirDNA shared with ABC showed that the owners of these properties, are earning more per night than the hotel establishments in Spanish cities.