Property rental platform Airbnb has slammed suggestions it is to blame for rising house prices in Bristol. The company has commissioned a new report in which it said it had "no discernible impact" on housing affordability - or a lack of homes - in the city.
The research, carried out by EY, found that Bristol homes listed on the platform for 90 nights a year account for 0.24% of the city's total housing stock. On average, Airbnb said, Bristol hosts rent their properties for fewer than four days a month.
According to the report, Airbnb generated £45m of gross value added (GVA) and supported 688 jobs in Bristol last year.
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"It is widely acknowledged that the root cause of housing challenges in the 海角视频 is years of house building failing to keep pace with demand, and we welcome the government’s plans to build 1.5 million new homes,” said Amanda Cupples, general manager for Airbnb in Northern Europe.
“While only a tiny fraction of British homes are listed on Airbnb - typically for just a few days a month - this activity is generating billions for the 海角视频 economy and supporting tens of thousands of jobs while helping four in ten hosts afford their homes.”
The news comes as Sir Keir Starmer's government reportedly forges ahead with plans to crack down on short-term lets. According to the Telegraph, ministers are mulling proposals to allow councils in England to decide locations where holiday lets will need planning permission. The newspaper also reported that a national register for short-term lets was also being considered.
The idea of requiring landlords of short-term rental accommodation to seek planning permission was in December 2022 under the previous administration.
Airbnb said on Tuesday (September 3) it had written to the government to call on it to implement new short-term rental rules to give authorities in Bristol the power to regulate the sector.
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“We welcome regulations and we have led in calling for national legislation for short-term lets to help make communities stronger,” added Ms Cupples. “We want to make it easy for local authorities such as Bristol to track the positive impacts of home sharing, and for additional targeted measures to be introduced to support the sustainable growth of short-term letting activity, where needed.”
Airbnb said of the 318 local authorities it examined, there are 25 where more than 2% of total dwellings are listed on Airbnb, including Bristol.
"We recognise the historic housing challenges facing communities and we want to help ensure they are equipped to regulate short-term lets, should they wish," Airbnb added.