Airbnb backs down on rental limits in Amsterdam, London

Airbnb has agreed for the first time to cap the number of nights a host can rent out a space annually in London and Amsterdam in a major compromise with regulators.

The home-sharing platform told hosts in London on Thursday that they would now be subject to the city’s 90-day-a-year limit on renting out homes, reported The Wall Street Journal. Airbnb will apply a similar 60-day restriction in Amsterdam to comply with the city’s rules. Hosts in both cities will also need licenses to rent their properties.

{mosads}“We want to be good partners for everyone in [Amsterdam] and ensure home sharing grows responsibly and sustainably,” James McClure, Airbnb general manager for Northern Europe, said to Bloomberg.

Airbnb will reportedly implement a feature on its website in 2017 to automatically restrict the number of days for which a property can be rented.

Rental cap proponents have cited concerns that homeowners turning to Airbnb to rent properties are cutting into the available supply of housing available to long-term tenants in competitive rental markets.

The home-sharing platform is also facing regulatory crackdowns at home.

San Francisco is reviewing a bill like the one in Amsterdam, which would limit users to renting out their homes for no more than 60 days.

The San Francisco-based company is also trying to work on a compromise with New York City over strengthened penalties on short-term rentals that make it significantly harder for Airbnb to operate.