Housing
shortage
?
Blame
Airbnb
!
Should
housing
actually
be
blamed
on
Airbnb
?
The
vacation
home
-
sharing
company
Airbnb
has
?
according
to
some
people
?
become
a
victim
of
its
own
success
.
the
company
started
the
online
business
only
a
few
years
,
its
popularity
has
spread
rapidly
.
A
combination
of
good
for
money
,
easy
booking
,
and
relatively
little
bad
publicity
or
poor
experiences
,
has
resulted
in
an
explosion
of
properties
being
made
available
all
over
the
world
.
Like
many
great
ideas
,
Airbnb
came
at
just
the
right
time
.
More
people
than
ever
like
to
travel
independently
of
traditional
travel
companies
.
On
top
of
this
,
air
travel
is
much
cheaper
than
ever
before
thanks
to
the
low
-
cost
,
-
airlines
like
Ryan
Air
and
Easy
Jet
.
Regular
weekend
breaks
have
become
a
way
of
life
for
many
people
,
and
the
flexibility
of
an
apartment
or
just
a
room
in
someone's
home
is
very
attractive
.
With
this
increased
demand
,
has
of
course
come
the
realization
from
property
owners
that
there
is
money
to
be
made
.
A
new
breed
has
been
born
:
the
Airbnb
landlord
.
And
here
the
problem
.
Initially
,
as
you
would
expect
,
opposition
to
this
new
competitor
came
from
the
hotel
industry
.
?
Unfair
!
?
they
cried
.
?
They're
unregulated
,
there's
no
protection
for
consumers
!
?
All
of
which
was
true
and
some
cities
did
indeed
Airbnb
from
operating
.
Others
saw
that
the
business
was
?
by
and
large
?
being
very
effectively
controlled
from
within
by
users
.
After
all
,
there
is
plenty
of
,
so
why
choose
something
with
bad
reviews
or
photos
?
Now
,
a
new
cry
is
sweeping
through
cities
:
Airbnb
is
forcing
up
prices
and
young
people
can
no
longer
afford
to
place
a
foot
(
or
a
hand
)
on
the
first
rung
of
the
property
ladder
!
Is
there
any
truth
in
this
or
is
this
just
another
excuse
from
local
city
councils
that
do
nothing
to
build
affordable
housing
for
young
people
?
Let's
have
a
look
at
the
arguments
.
"
Restrictions
must
be
placed
on
Airbnb
,
"
say
its
critics
.
These
curbs
range
from
an
outright
ban
to
some
form
of
control
on
numbers
.
A
shortage
of
supply
is
said
to
have
driven
up
prices
of
both
rental
and
sales
.
Amsterdam
was
one
of
the
first
cities
to
react
back
in
2014
when
it
set
a
restriction
of
only
60
days
per
year
on
home
-
sharing
.
"
This
policy
?
it
is
said
?
was
intended
to
keep
areas
safe
and
hotels
in
business
.
"
Other
places
like
Iceland
and
Berlin
have
.
In
the
U
.
S
.
meanwhile
,
the
relationship
between
cities
and
home
-
sharing
companies
is
more
difficult
with
New
York
banning
short
-
term
listings
.
However
,
Amsterdam's
subsequent
investigations
into
whether
home
-
sharing
companies
like
Airbnb
are
responsible
for
driving
up
rents
and
prices
or
not
has
proved
inconclusive
.
A
spokesman
has
said
that
there
are
far
too
many
factors
at
work
to
draw
this
conclusion
.
Instead
,
they
say
that
they
are
focusing
on
protecting
the
city
against
illegal
hotel
owners
pretending
to
be
home
sharers
so
as
to
avoid
regulations
.
Airbnb
rightly
states
that
issues
of
affordability
in
certain
cities
pre
-
date
the
start
of
the
company
.
Hosts
also
make
the
point
that
a
range
of
affordable
accommodation
is
essential
if
tourism
is
to
prosper
.
There
appear
to
be
good
arguments
on
both
sides
for
and
against
restricting
home
-
sharing
.
For
young
people
searching
for
a
place
to
live
in
their
home
city
,
there
is
no
real
answer
to
the
housing
shortage
to
put
the
entire
blame
on
house
-
sharing
companies
.