In a blog post on Tuesday, Airbnb said New York City’s Local Law 18 regulation, which requires short-term rental hosts to obtain a license from the city verifying compliance with strict occupancy rules and building codes, has “failed to deliver on the promise to combat the housing crisis.” Rents in New York have continued to rise while travelers are left with fewer accommodation options and priced out by all-time high hotel prices, the company said. It called for the rules to be relaxed to make it easier for homeowners to rent out their places.

“It’s time for New York City to re-evaluate LL18 and consider amendments that would, at a minimum, allow homeowners to once again host guests,” said Vice President of Public Policy Theo Yedinsky in the post. “By rolling back parts of the law, the city can increase the supply of accommodations for consumers, support resident hosts, and revitalize local businesses that depend on tourism dollars.

Airbnb’s policy recommendation is the latest volley in a long battle with New York City over how short-term rentals — those of fewer than 30 days — should be regulated. It echoes the sentiments of local homeowner and business advocacy groups in urging amendments to the law.

Airbnb had previously sued the city in an effort to block the new rules last year, but a judge dismissed the case. Once the regulation came into effect last September, short-term rental platforms like Airbnb were barred from processing transactions for unregistered units. 

The number of short-term Airbnb listings has plummeted by 83% to just 3,700 within a year, according to an August report from data analytics firm AirDNA. For Airbnb, this puts millions of dollars of revenue at stake. The company made $85 million in net revenue from New York in 2022, it previously disclosed in court filings.

In January, Airbnb released its own analysis supporting its position that the rules have not made housing more affordable: rents kept climbing and the drop in short-term rentals did not translate to vacant housing units. 

Backlog Cleared

The city has so far not signaled it would amend the law. After initial backlogs in processing hosts’ applications, the Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement, responsible for the rule’s implementation, provided data showing it has caught up with 99.7% of the 6,672 applications it’s received over the past year. About 38% of those were granted licenses, roughly the same proportion were denied, and the rest returned to applicants for modifications. 

Christian Klossner, executive director of the enforcement office, hailed the regulation for helping “the city reach its goal of enhancing the enforceability of decades-old housing laws that many hosts violated and from which companies profited.”

At a town hall last year before the rule went into effect, Mayor Eric Adams encouraged homeowners who could no longer rent out their one-to-two family homes on Airbnb to write to their council representatives about their proposals to modify the law. He has also promised to meet with the affected homeowners to hear their demands.