Airbnb fights strict Paris laws with Century 21 partnership

The Paris local government has set up roadblocks for Airbnb over the past year, requiring all accommodation to be registered with the city and limiting hosts to just 120 days of Airbnb rentals. Much of the worry in Paris stemmed from the city’s already high housing costs and the fact that many Airbnbs available on the roommate site were opened illegally by contractors, who themselves rented the apartments to ignorant owners. But now, Airbnb may have found a solution to its Parisian problems. As part of a revolutionary partnership with Century 21 real estate agents, Airbnb will now open the channels of communication between future Airbnb hosts and owners when signing the lease, essentially authorizing upon moving in that the apartment or house is available for rent on Airbnb. . (The Airbnb will still need to be registered with the city.)

Why would owners (or Century 21, for that matter) agree to work with Airbnb? Money, money, money. As a rider in Century 21-facilitated leases, the host receives 70% of their Airbnb revenue (the cost of the reservation minus the 3% Airbnb discount), their owner receives 23%, and Century 21 takes 7 %. While the loss of 30% of their potential income may put off potential hosts, the deal prevents them from being completely evicted from the site, which the city government asked the site to do for illegal sublets in December. like TechCrunch reported.

While this may seem to cheat the system, Airbnb’s logic is sound. “With the Airbnb-friendly lease, subletting will be much better managed. In addition, this agreement does not dry up the supply of housing in tight areas but encourages the subletting of occupied housing,” said Airbnb. in a report. So far, rental contracts adapted to Airbnb will be limited to certain districts of Paris, but could be extended to the more than 800 French branches of Century 21 if successful. As cities around the world resume the fight against Airbnb and the alleged rent increases it causes when apartments are used exclusively by Airbnbs, rather than residents, initiatives like the Century 21 partnership could prove to be the key. way forward. This could be particularly the case in cities like New York and Madrid, where the company is subject to the strictest regulations.