Airbnb, so often criticized for operating in the largely unregulated short-term rental market, has called on the UK government to scrap Section 21 evictions.
He says banning this type of long-term rental eviction, often carried out to allow properties to be converted to short-term rentals, would help Airbnb itself control the sector.
Spokeswoman Amanda Cupples said Airbnb removes landlords from its platform if tenants have been unlawfully evicted, but has been powerless to stop this in the UK due to Article 21.
“At the moment there are very few unlawful evictions that we can take action against because they are done legally under Section 21.”
Cupples is also calling for the creation of a UK-wide short-term homeowners register as well as the introduction of local tourist taxes to help permanent residents benefit from living in a tourist hotspot. The measures were part of Airbnb’s “Healthy Tourism Commitment” released this week.
She says: “We’ve collected $4 billion in ‘tourist levies’ from around the world, so where local authorities or regulators think it’s in the interests of communities to introduce tourism levies, we’ll be favorable.”
The Scottish National Party has pledged to introduce a tourism tax in Edinburgh if it wins control of the council in next month’s local elections in May, while the Welsh government will launch a consultation on a tourism tax this fall. Meanwhile, the UK government announced last year that it would consult on the introduction of an industry-wide tourist accommodation register to regulate the holiday rental sector, but did not still made progress on measurement.
A statement from Airbnb says it can share its experience of taxes around the world with UK local authorities “where there is clear support for such a measure to be introduced in the community”.
Cupples adds: “Our priority is to ensure that the recovery is a success and to ensure that communities can benefit from the return of tourism in a healthy and sustainable way. Since last year we have been calling for the introduction of rules on short-term rentals and now, alongside communities in parts of the UK, we can’t wait to see the government turn words into action. .
Want to comment on this story? If so…if a post is deemed to victimize, harass, degrade or intimidate an individual or group of individuals on any basis, the post may be removed and the individual immediately banned from posting to the future.
Comments are closed.