AIRBNB TO SPEND MILLIONS IN LOBBYING NEW YORK TO EASE RENTAL BAN

(Bloomberg) -- Airbnb Inc. is pouring millions into a pair of New York political campaigns as it pushes back against short-term rental restrictions that took more than 80% of its NYC listings offline within a year.

Airbnb is spending $5 million on getting homesharing-friendly politicians into New York City and state offices this year and next, according to two people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because the firm hasn’t publicly discussed the amount of funding behind the effort. The company also plans to support candidates who are aligned on interests such as increasing housing supply, promoting tourism and boosting small businesses to counter the powerful hotel lobby, said one of the people. 

Airbnb said it will make decisions about which candidates to back in the near future.

Separately, the company spent more than $1 million in the first 10 months of 2024 to lobby lawmakers — both directly and indirectly through host advocacy groups — on a bill to relax some of the restrictions. That’s more than it spent on lobbying in New York state over the past five years combined, according to reports filed with the state’s Commission on Ethics and Lobbying compiled by Bloomberg. 

The firm is waging one of its largest political initiatives in years after the city’s licensing law, which took effect September 2023, wiped out more than 18,000 of its listings, representing millions in lost revenue for Airbnb. The city has said the registration law is necessary to crack down on unlawful rental operations by bad actors that subject guests to hazardous living conditions, drive up rents and erode the fabric of neighborhoods. 

The amount Airbnb is prepared to spend in a single state is significant compared to what larger tech companies spend on influencing government policy more broadly. Last year, for example, Meta Platforms Inc. spent $18.9 million on lobbying while Amazon.com Inc. spent $14.2 million, according to Open Secrets.

Airbnb is known to employ political veterans with experience at the White House and Democratic campaigns to spend millions to fight regulation through direct lobbying and urging hosts to be more outspoken on the issue. In 2015, it spent $8 million to defeat a ballot measure that would have imposed tougher limits on short-term rentals in its hometown of San Francisco. 

The company’s main New York City policy recommendations, encapsulated in a bill introduced by Brooklyn council member Farah Louis in November, include:

An option for owners of single- and two-family homes to rent out their primary residence on platforms like Airbnb without needing to be physically present at all timesA proposal to increase the permitted number of adults on a reservation to four from twoA provision to allow hosts to restrict some areas from guest access. (The current rule prohibits short-term rentals with internal door locks.)

Airbnb has criticized New York City’s current restrictions for failing “to deliver on the promise to combat the housing crisis,” citing a continued rise in rents and claiming travelers were left with fewer accommodation options amid record hotel prices.

But it does not expect the return of tens of thousands of listings if the amendments are passed. 

“It would be a small number of people on any given night,” or a few hundred listings per day, Nathan Rotman, Airbnb’s director of policy strategy in North America, said in an interview. “What we are anticipating is that people who go away for the weekend, people like me who travel for work, people who are also just seeking opportunities to make some spare income on an occasional basis, will be allowed to operate,” he said, citing major events like the US Open.

While New York City was a key market for Airbnb in its early days, the company’s footprint has grown such that no single city represents more than 2% of its revenue, it said in its 2023 annual report. New York in particular made up about 1% of its annual revenue, it said in 2023.

A public hearing on the bill has not yet been scheduled, said Mara Davis, deputy press secretary for the city council. “Like all bills, it will go through the legislative process, which is deliberative and allows for thorough public engagement and input,” she said.

Grassroots Lobbying

In lobbying for an easing of New York City’s rules, Airbnb is employing an oft-used tactic from its policy playbook: mobilizing its network of hosts to help sway policymakers in their favor. 

Early last year, Airbnb deepened its relationship with Restore Homeowner Autonomy and Rights, or RHOAR, which was founded in 2023 and now represents more than 650 hosts in opposing the current restrictions. The company contributed $150,000 for ad design services to help amplify the stories of affected homeowners.

Over the summer, Airbnb contributed $450,000 to a coalition called the Homeowners for Financial Empowerment. It’s actually a legal entity that Airbnb created with RHOAR to lobby for the regulatory changes, Rotman said, adding that the company has worked with individual members within the group over the years.

Such efforts at the community level are likely to intensify as lawmakers solicit feedback about the bill from their constituents. Equally well-resourced hotel interest groups and unions such as the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council, AFL-CIO are funding and running ads for a coalition of housing advocates and tenant groups called “Tenants Not Tourists” that opposes Airbnb’s proposal.

--With assistance from Nacha Cattan.

Most Read from Bloomberg

• These Homes Withstood the LA Fires. Architects Explain Why
• NYC Commuters Get New Way to Dodge Traffic: $95 Helicopter Rides
• Will Americans Ever Lose Their Taste for Telework?
• Chicago Agency Pitches $1.5 Billion Plan to Fix Transit Woes
• Scaramucci, Ackman Donate to Whitney Tilson’s NYC Mayoral Run

©2025 Bloomberg L.P.

2025-01-16T14:11:59Z