Home | Newsletter | Advertise
loading...

Berlin Bans Renting Whole Homes Through Airbnb

  • May 3rd 2016

by Nena Perry-Brown

Berlin Bans Renting Whole Homes Through Airbnb: Figure 1
A room for rent in Berlin via Airbnb

On Monday, Berlin enacted a law which prohibits entire apartments and homes from being rented on a short-term basis through Airbnb and similar websites. This measure is being taken to preserve affordable housing, rather than enable renters to profit off of the short-term subletting market.

The law, passed in 2014, still allows Berliners to rent out rooms in their apartments, while fining those who attempt to rent their entire units without proper permits. Airbnb-type listings in the city have dropped 40 percent since the law passed.

This approach to balancing short-term rentals geared toward tourists and the dearth of affordable housing in urban areas is one that other cities may find instructive. In DC, the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) oversees the legality of Airbnb rentals and the chart below outlines the permissible short-term renting options.

Berlin Bans Renting Whole Homes Through Airbnb: Figure 2
A chart of DC’s Airbnb regulations, courtesy of DCRA

UrbanTurf explained the District’s subletting regulations a couple of years ago, but since then, Airbnb has gotten a lot more resistance from the hotel sector than from affordable housing proponents.

See other articles related to: airbnb, airbnb dc, airbnb illegal, dcra

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/how_berlin_is_handling_airbnb/11183.

DC Real Estate Guides

Short guides to navigating the DC-area real estate market

We've collected all our helpful guides for buying, selling and renting in and around Washington, DC in one place. Start browsing below!

First-Timer Primers

Intro guides for first-time home buyers

Red Flags Revealed During a Home Inspection Top 5 Tax Breaks For Homeowners Tax Relief for DC Homeowners
Condo Fee Tutorial What is a Rent Back? 10 Ways To Tell If a Home Renovation is Well Done
Obtaining a Basic Business License For Your Rental What is an Adjustable Rate Mortgage? The Splitting the Rent Formula
How Much Cash Do You Need to Buy a House? Is This Condo Building Financially Healthy? Interest Rates and Mortgage Points
The Scoop on Mortgage Insurance

Unique Spaces

Awesome and unusual real estate from across the DC Metro

The Most Intriguing Loft in DC The R Street Firehouse DC’s One-Room House
Dupont Circle’s Old Frat House To Become Alley Home Best Transition From a Garage To a Home The Roundhouse
Tilden Gardens Restaurant-Turned-Home Hits Market Next Week Logan Circle’s Most Intriguing Garage Frank Lloyd Wright Goes Green in Kensington
Sears Bungalow Gets a Modern Makeover Old Town General Store Becomes Three-Level Home Making the Most of a Skinny House
A Studio 27 Renovation on Capitol Hill Once a Carriage House, Now a Home The Bank that Became a Home
From Pie to Hooch to Heroin to Home The Live-Aboards of Gangplank Marina A Treehouse with Rock Creek Park As A Backyard
Modern Tranquility in Sperryville Saddle Up For Stable Living Throwing a Curve at 550 Square Feet
A Modern Hilltop Retreat Tilden Street Restaurant Becomes Spacious Home Focus on Design: A Vastu Unit at 22 West
The DC Area’s First Net Zero Home A Yankee Goes Green DC’s First Carbon Neutral Home
Eco-Friendly Alley House Off H Street The Gym, The Stables and The Firehouse