‘It’s Time, DC’ Starts Ad Campaign to Restrict Short-Term Rentals
The ad campaign began this week and features DC residents and community leaders calling on the City Council to crack down on commercial hosts buying up homes to rent short-term on Airbnb and thus depleting the district’s affordable housing stock.
WASHINGTON, DC—Local community coalition It’s Time, DC has launched an advertising campaign geared at prompting the Washington, DC City Council to pass short-term rental legislation to protect neighborhoods and affordable housing.
A spokesperson for the It’s Time DC, a coalition of local community groups, civic organizations, labor leaders and residents, says the ad campaign began this week and features DC residents and community leaders calling on the City Council to crack down on commercial hosts buying up homes to rent short-term on Airbnb and thus depleting the district’s affordable housing stock.
Lauren Windsor with AirbnbWATCH, a project of American Family Voices representing community, housing, labor, equality and hospitality groups, advocating for U.S. city officials to rein in commercial investors in residential properties, says, “Leaders from major cities across the country like San Diego, San Francisco, New York, and Boston have enacted short-term rental laws to protect affordable housing and hold short-term rental platforms like Airbnb accountable.”
She adds, “These unregulated short-term rentals are skirting taxes and health and safety regulations, and buying up residential homes to rent on Airbnb. The problem with these commercial operators is only going to get worse unless DC leaders step in.”
Graylin Presbury, president of the D.C. Federation of Civic Associations, says the coalition isn’t opposed to instances where a homeowner rents out a room in their house or whole primary residence, but is opposed to commercial investors buying up homes to rent on short-term rental sites like Airbnb.
“Out-of-town commercial investors are taking residential homes to post as short-term rentals on sites like Airbnb, which is lowering the availability of affordable housing, driving up rent for city residents and making the dream of owning a home in DC less obtainable,” Presbury notes. “It has become a citywide problem and the only solution is to limit short-term rentals to primary residency to protect the city’s housing stock for permanent residents.”