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Berlin Bans Renting Whole Homes Through Airbnb

  • May 3rd 2016

by Nena Perry-Brown

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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.

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