The Battle Between Hotels & Vacation Home Rentals Is Heating Up
Why Government Crackdown On Short-Term Vacation Home Rentals Could Close The Door Permanently on Property Owners
Until recently, the rise in real estate transactions within the past decade combined with lower property values in Europe, has forced property owners to rent out their second homes. It’s no wonder that the growing demand for staying in comfort outside of hotels would cause a stir among hotel owners lately.
The original Urban Rental law (LAU) held the right for hosts to offer their properties to traveling guests, but new laws being passed in Europe by authorities leaves over 20,000 affected private homeowners from offering their vacation home rentals to traveling tourists, allowing local governments to decide which level of pressure they will serve up in the form of hefty fines and tax penalties.
States vs. Stays leaves little room for comfort with these increased standards, and regulations that vacation home rental owners will be forced to endure while being fined could shut the door permanently on travelers, sending tremors of possible foreclosure through Spain & France.
Here in the U.S., another current legal battles between “States vs. Stays”, involves AirBnB vs. New York City. The only hope for short term rental acceptance by private owners was a decent pitch to NY regulators claiming that such restrictions against hosts would impact the $632 million dollars + 4,500 jobs that AirBnB claims to have fueled in the city’s economy this year.
Hoteliers would still require upwards of 50% or more room occupancy, but meeting those milestones to reach the feverish growth rate of private vacation home rentals is a tough act to follow. Vacation home rentals & tourists are staying almost twice the average visit with a 30%+ increase in local spending to boost nearby business, but hotels still aren’t buying it.
When the European government meets in the coming days and weeks ahead to discuss the impending balance between vacation home rental owners and hoteliers, and the new laws will that will be enforced, it will be interesting to see just exactly which rules will apply moving forward without leaving either side burned.
Matt Heady
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