The global regulatory battle between hospitality industry lobbyists and Airbnb has landed in the UK, where members of parliament have been told almost half of lettings on the US company’s site are illegal.
Professional landlords are accused of using the ‘sharing economy’ to avoid taxes and planning laws by operating “pseudo-hotels” without providing adequate protection for consumers.
The British Hospitality Association (BHA), which lobbies politicians for lower taxes and wages on behalf of its multinational corporate clients, argues sites like Airbnb are made up of large-scale landlords rather than individual homeowners.
BHA CEO Ufi Ibrahim provided evidence to the Business, Innovation, and Skills Committee on Tuesday that estimates 40 percent of home sharing website links for London are professional landlords and half of all listings are for entire properties as opposed to rooms in a host’s home.
Patrick Robinson of Airbnb was also at the hearing and said: “Airbnb is providing more choice to consumers in what is already quite a busy space for tourism accommodation.” Full story...
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Professional landlords are accused of using the ‘sharing economy’ to avoid taxes and planning laws by operating “pseudo-hotels” without providing adequate protection for consumers.
The British Hospitality Association (BHA), which lobbies politicians for lower taxes and wages on behalf of its multinational corporate clients, argues sites like Airbnb are made up of large-scale landlords rather than individual homeowners.
BHA CEO Ufi Ibrahim provided evidence to the Business, Innovation, and Skills Committee on Tuesday that estimates 40 percent of home sharing website links for London are professional landlords and half of all listings are for entire properties as opposed to rooms in a host’s home.
Patrick Robinson of Airbnb was also at the hearing and said: “Airbnb is providing more choice to consumers in what is already quite a busy space for tourism accommodation.” Full story...
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