Berlin has begun restricting private property rentals through Airbnb and
similar online platforms, threatening hefty fines in a controversial move meant
to keep housing affordable for locals.
The German capital fears that the
growing trend of people letting out apartments to tourists through sites such
as Airbnb, Wimdu and 9Flats is cutting into a limited property supply and
driving up rents.
From May 1st, the city-state will
enact a new law known by the German mouthful of
"Zweckentfremdungsverbot", or prohibition of improper use.
It is "a necessary and
sensible instrument against the housing shortage in Berlin," said Andreas
Geisel, Berlin's head of urban development.
"I am absolutely determined
to return such misappropriated apartments to the people of Berlin and to
newcomers," he said.
Rents in Berlin shot up 56 percent
between 2009 and 2014, although at around 10 euros per square metre this year,
they are relatively low compared to other major European cities.
Given that it is more profitable
to rent out whole apartments for short holiday lets, some investors are holding
on to apartments for such rentals rather than having long-term tenants.
San Francisco-based Airbnb.com --
short for the business's original name AirBed & Breakfast -- is the biggest
of several sites that allow people to offer and find such rental accommodation
worldwide.
While Berlin has become one of
Europe's top travel destinations, with 30.2 million overnight stays last year,
the Airbnb trend has also impacted the local hotel industry.
According to research firm GBI,
the private online bookings represent a "parallel market of an additional
6.1 million" overnight stays a year.
The new law was passed in 2014 and
provided for a two-year transition period that ended on April 30, after which
owners are only allowed to rent out rooms via such portals, not entire flats or
houses.
Offenders can face fines of up to
€100,000 ($113,000).
To catch them, the city has even
appealed to the "civic spirit" of its residents and asked them to
anonymously report any suspected misuse online.
Tim Boening, a 41-year-old
artists' agent who rents out a loft in the trendy Kreuzberg district, said he
wasn't shocked by the new law, given the practices he has witnessed.
There is, for example, "the
nice couple with two small apartments who move in together into a bigger place
and keep the two apartments to rent them out on Airbnb," he told AFP.
"I don't think that's good,
it should be stopped," he said, as these apartments are not available to
"normal" tenants.
Marika, 48, couldn't agree less and
is furious about the change, having long rented out four apartments near the
centre of Berlin via Airbnb.
She believed that the city is
making Berliners pay for its failed housing policy while serving the needs of
the hotel industry.
"This is unfair, we are
forbidden from doing our work," said Marika -- not her real name.
The only impact, she argued, would
be that some groups, especially families, will simply stay away.
She was especially angry about the
request to turn in offenders, saying that "in Germany, of all places,
maybe we should reconsider this kind of thing," in reference to the Nazi
and former East German communist dictatorship in which denouncing others was
common practice.
Airbnb Germany said
"Berliners want clear and simple rules for home sharing, so they can
continue to share their own home with guests".
The practice differs from other
types of accommodation "and helps many Berliners pay their rent,"
spokesman Julian Trautwein told AFP in a statement.
"We will continue to
encourage Berlin policy-makers to listen to their citizens and to follow the
example of other big cities such as Paris, London, Amsterdam or Hamburg and
create new, clear rules for normal people who are sharing their own
homes."
Wimdu has meanwhile filed a suit,
arguing the law breaches the constitution of the city-state of Berlin.
And the owners of start-up 9Flats
said they had sold the brand to a Singapore company.
"We face a law in Berlin that
would drive us into bankruptcy," its boss Roman Bach told the daily
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
Several property owners who use
Airbnb have formed the "Apartments Allianz" to push back against the
charge they are evil capitalists growing rich on the backs of fellow Berliners.
Rather, they say, they have
offered "an attractive, varied range of beautiful and individual
apartments", and have through their personal hospitality
"significantly contributed to a positive image for Berlin".
They say they are "not
international players, but working in Berlin for Berlin".
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