Wealthy Incomers: Economy Boosters? Or Trojan Horses Bent On Plunder?
Countries, states, and cities, be careful what you wish for! Wealthy foreigners may boost your economy by dropping a trail of cash across companies linked to tourism. Ask Portugal,...
Wales: Torching Unaffordable Homes: Impotent Mutterings Or Real Threat?
The world's populations are more and more denied access to adequate affordable housing. The primary — and growing — barrier to renting or owning a home is 'financialization' —...
Do Edinburgh Short Term Rentals Leave Citizens Homeless?
The war in many countries between short term rentals (STRs) and 'affordable' housing have been placed on a back burner during the COVID pandemic.
Over the last two years, the...
Boondocking Lifestylers, Meet The Boondocking Homeless
Boondocking? What is it? Who does it? What has it got to do with homelessness?
Some might argue that boondocking is homelessness, or at the very least, rootlessness. In America,...
UK Rural Rental Housing Scarcity, Pick Your Villain: January 2022, It’s STR Landlords
What are we to make of an equivalence between airBNB-type short-term holiday rentals (STRs) on one hand, and the social housing shortage on the other? A United Kingdom charity...
Short Term Rental Disease: Europe Uses COVID As An Affordable Housing Cure
Until the coronavirus pandemic, a rising number of world cities were suffering from affordable housing problems.
In some cities, overheated housing markets have attracted investors acting from purely speculative reasons....
Lisbon’s Answer To High Rents For Essential Workers
Lisbon is inviting short term rental landlords to get into the long term rental business.
Concerned that there is no housing in the city that is affordable for essential workers,...
Much Ado About Nothing? Nowheresville Tourism Hurting Affordable Housing
Famous city tourism is running amok. Try The Guardian: The Fall Of Prague: ‘Drunk Tourists Are Acting Like They've Conquered Our City’
Underlying these stories are growing housing crises in major...
STR Invasion: There’s Nothing To See Here . . . Please Disperse!
The movie Naked Gun created an absurdist meme with a huge, affectionate following: 'Nothing to see here, please disperse': a bland statement delivered in foreground while in background burns an...
“I Felt Like A Criminal,” Says Airbnb Client. Sympathy For The Devil?
For anyone involved in the hunt for affordable housing, it's hard to work up tears for short term rental (STR) clients forced to skulk around pretending to be long-lost...
Touristy Bar Harbor Struggles To Balance Affordable Housing With STRs
Does a tourist town need affordable accommodations for citizens and seasonal workers? Or does it need STRs (Short Term Rentals) to attract tourists? For towns and cities like Bar...
Is Airbnb Jacking Up Your Own Rent?
So you don't really care that Airbnb and similar online room and apartment booking agencies are putting strangers in your apartment building, giving your neighbour a few extra bucks.
But...
Airbnb Overstays Its Short Term Rental
Possession of a home has long been associated with a range of rights. An owner may live in it, lease it, rent it, sell it, give it away. In...
NYC Comptroller’s Analysis Puts a Dollar Figure On Airbnb Damage To Affordability
SRT (Short Term Rental) advocates — particularly renters themselves — are quick to dismiss suggestions that Airbnb and other SRT agencies have an impact on a community's long term...
Increasing Housing Affordability: Unlocking The ‘Empty Homes’ Puzzle
A number of factors have been blamed for increasingly unaffordable city homes. One black sheep gaining considerable city attention worldwide is the use of housing exclusively as short term...
