Our support for sensible, short-term rental policies for renters

Airbnb was founded more than 15 years ago when our founders opened up their home to guests to help pay their rent. Today more than five million Hosts around the world share their home on Airbnb to help supplement their income. In the U.S., more than 40 percent of Hosts say the income from hosting allows them to stay in their homes, and an estimated 10 percent say the money has helped them avoid foreclosure or eviction.¹ 

With a record half of all U.S. renters cost-burdened, we recognize there is more we can do to make sure communities adopt sensible short-term rental policies that allow renters to share their space to earn supplemental income. To that end, today we are sharing more about our efforts to advocate for renter-friendly short-term rental policies in the U.S. and a $100,000 donation to an organization that helps renters stay in their homes. 

Home sharing for all, not just homeowners 

As mortgage rates keep many from homeownership, renting continues to be the most financially viable option for many.  Despite these economic trends, a number of cities across the country have adopted short-term rental laws that preclude renters from sharing their space while allowing homeowners to do so. These restrictions impede a large segment of the population from leveraging their space to earn supplemental income despite the fact that renters earn significantly less than homeowners.

“Homeownership should not be a barrier to entry when it comes to sharing your home. The vast majority of Hosts in the U.S. share their space to help cover the rising cost of living, and we want to partner with cities to develop sensible short-term rental policies that grant renters the opportunity to do the same.”

Mike Signer, Airbnb’s North America Policy Director

Going forward, Airbnb will work with cities and states to advocate for short-term rental rules that allow renters to share their home. A number of cities have led on this issue by passing renter-friendly short-term rental policies, including Raleigh, NC, San Diego, CA, and Tulsa, OK. Earlier this week, Virginia’s governor signed into law a statewide bi-partisan bill that requires all localities that issue short-term rental permits to property owners, must issue the same permit to tenants with permission of the property owner. 

In addition, we are also donating $100,000 to the Flagstone Initiative, a non-profit organization that offers financial assistance to help struggling renters and prevent eviction. The donation will enable the Flagstone Initiative to offer financial stability programs to help renters avoid evictions at a time when they need it the most.

“Millions of renters live paycheck to paycheck and need help making ends meet. Airbnb’s donation will help provide creative upstream solutions to improve their financial stability and keep them in their homes.”

Shin Inoue, CEO of the Flagstone Initiative

The donation is part of Airbnb’s efforts to support the communities our Hosts and guests call home. Last month, we announced the Airbnb Housing Council which includes independent housing organizations and experts that will help us identify long-term solutions to help increase housing supply and support communities that face housing affordability issues. 

Our work to support renters and communities

Support for renter-friendly short-term rental policies is the latest in our efforts to help more people benefit from hosting on Airbnb. 

In 2022, we launched Airbnb-friendly apartments (AFA) to help renters find an apartment where the building management permits hosting part-time on Airbnb. The program has since expanded to more than 400 buildings in 40 markets in the United States, and nearly 7,000 people² have expressed interest in having Airbnb-friendly apartments in their city. Since launch, over 1000 renters have created a listing through the AFA program, earning approximately $8.4 million in the process. The typical host in an Airbnb-friendly apartment earned over $4,000 and hosted 32 nights.³

We also expanded our Airbnb Entrepreneurship Academy, a program focused on introducing individuals from diverse and underrepresented communities to hosting on the Airbnb platform in coordination with local community partners. Since its inception in 2017, the program has grown from supporting one organization to over 40 organizations with 2023 marking the largest cohort of partners yet.