Airbnb is a well-known example of a company that promotes the sharing economy. This platform markets itself as a company that enables house owners to share their house, make money and meet new people. Sounds very promising, right? But things might be less auspicious than it seems…
I have to admit: the founders of Airbnb did a great job, they disrupted the hotel industry within a few years. But the founders probably didn’t expect that the social structure of a city would change dramatically due to a growing number of Airbnb stays. An example of such a city is Amsterdam, the documentary ‘Slapend Rijk’ of VPRO Tegenlicht gives an excellent overview of the situation in this city.
The popularity of Airbnb caused huge problems in the city center, the property prices increased with an average amount of €100,000. The consequence is that Chinese and Russians are buying these properties as an investment, their only intention is to rent the property on Airbnb. The balance between tourism and residents is disturbed and also nuisance is increasing (think about screaming tourists and clanging trolleys). In order to reduce nuisance, Airbnb signed an agreement with the municipality of Amsterdam in 2014. This agreement should reduce illegal rentals (limited to 60 days/year) and would force Airbnb to pay taxes (5%), but Airbnb didn’t want to share the data of their 18,000 owners.
The agreement didn’t solve the problems, so the residents and municipality are seeking other ways of reducing nuisance of Airbnb renters. They are e.g. hiring detective agencies to catch owners who rent their property illegally. Furthermore, GroenLinks Amsterdam (a political party) started a website called ‘Fairbnb’. This website pays attention to the problems in Amsterdam regarding Airbnb. It’s also possible to report a complaint or to come up with possible solutions to solve these problems.
The easiest solution for tourists, residents and investors is: go to Rotterdam! Another idea is that Airbnb changes their way of doing business. They need to take the social structures of a city into account by monitoring the rentals and by adhering the agreements with important Airbnb cities. The municipalities could improve the situation by forcing owners to register their house if they want to rent it (on Airbnb). There is nothing wrong with renting or sharing your house, but it should be done correctly.
Sources:
http://www.vpro.nl/programmas/tegenlicht/kijk/afleveringen/2016-2017/slapend-rijk.html
http://www.vpro.nl/programmas/tegenlicht/lees/bijlagen/2016-2017/slapend-rijk/airbnb-in-nederland.html
https://www.groene.nl/artikel/een-luchtbedje-met-ontbijt
https://www.fairbnb.amsterdam/
