April 2016. Berlin outlaws most Airbnb-style rentals in an effort to curb short-term letting in favor of long term tenancies.
The law, voted in effect in 2014 with a two-year period for landlords to comply, is designed to make apartments available to those who wish to stay in the city over longer periods of time — families, workers, residents of all kinds — and given the short supply of available real-estate in the city, it’s no shocker.
Still, one can’t help but wince at the measure. Forcing a property owner to take on long-term residents, a famously less lucrative and more troublesome option when compared to Airbnb tenants, is not going to bode well for them. Nor will the tourism industry thrive.
But the law is the law. Things may change in the future, there may be lawsuits or reversals, but for now the legislation stands. Airbnb rentals in Berlin are in their vast majority illegal.
Hotels in Berlin are rubbing their hands.
So are long-term tenants, deadbeat tenants, and landlords who can’t use the internet.
Such are the ways of the market and big cities. Convoluted and conflicted.
From the bays of Pearl Coast,
Fish a ton of oysters, strike a shiny pearl.
http://www.citylab.com/housing/2016/04/airbnb-rentals-berlin-vacation-apartment-law/480381/