Airbnb has come under renewed attack in by New York’s Attorney General accused it of masquerading as a useful social service while in reality being a front for people to run the equivalent of “illegal hotels”.
Publishing a major report on the service he said: “A slick advertising campaign doesn’t change the fact that this is illegal activity.”
The report claims the nearly 75% of all Airbnb listings in New York are illegal. This appears to be because the lettings are run more as commercial rentals in contradiction to property laws banning guests for less than 30 days when the owners at not occupying the property.
Other landlords have failed to cough up hotel taxes of up to 15% of the rental income.
This argument between the regulators and Airbnb has been going on for a few years now. In addition, the city’s Hotel Association has campaigned for the closure of Airbnb listings in the city.
The UK, on the other hand, has done away with some legislation which prevented ordinary people renting rooms or whole properties.
Last month, the Government launched a major new initiative designed to place the UK at the centre of the £9bn “sharing economy”, which also includes companies like ZipCar, the car club, and TaskRabbit, which makes it easier for businesses to find people to do odd jobs on an ad hoc basis.
An Airbnb spokesman said that the company needed to work with regulators “on some sensible rules that stop bad actors and protect regular people who simply want to share the home in which they live”.
