How many illegal Airbnb’s are operating in Springfield

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – As Nixa neighbors deal with unlicensed Airbnb, KOLR 10 Investigates examined the number of unlicensed Airbnb homes operating in Springfield and surrounding towns.

KOLR 10 Investigates reviewed data from Springfield, Nixa, and Branson. All three cities have permit or license rules for short-term rentals, and found that there are likely hundreds of people renting short-term stays without city oversight.

Springfield

  • 360 active commercial licenses for short-term rental
  • 471 Springfield homes listed on Airbnb

Nixa

  • 4 active short-term rental licenses
  • 12 Nixa houses listed on Airbnb

branson

  • 400 active commercial licenses for short-term rental
  • Over 1,000 properties are listed on Airbnb

The City of Branson said it uses an umbrella method for licensing overnight rentals, which means a business can license its first unit and then acquire more properties without needing additional licenses.

Several businesses operate more than one Airbnb unit in Branson, so the total number of approved short-term rentals cannot be reflected using the city’s current reporting method. Branson executives are reviewing this process to determine if the umbrella method is best suited for the city in the future.

Airbnb isn’t the only place people list their properties, however, to avoid double counting homes listed on other sites like VRBO, KOLR 10 Investigates only looked at Airbnb properties.

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