Fenway Community Development Corporation held a forum to discuss the impact of short-term rentals, such as Airbnb, Tuesday night, allowing residents to share their thoughts on how to move forward with regulations.
Richard Giordano, director of policy and community planning at Fenway CDC, said short-stay rental businesses are removing nearly 6,000 units from the rental market. Those apartments will not be available for year-to-year rental by residents, Giordano said, which constricts the supply of housing and increases the price of rentals, contributing to displacement.
“I do want people to know that things are worse than what you think and we are here to make them better,” Giordano said. “Every time I keep looking into this there are more units being taken off the market and are being used as Airbnb’s by landlords who own the big buildings.”
Giordano said Boston is in the middle of a housing crisis and the mayor is trying to get housing built, even though short-term rental businesses are taking thousands of units off the market.
Mark Merante, a competition data analyst at the Massachusetts Department of Telecommunication and Cable, said the number of Airbnb listings has more than tripled in the last three years.
“Airbnb listings, from 2014 to 2017, have gone from 1,200 to 5,000,” Merante said. “There is certainly a correlation between proximity to the center of Boston and the number of Airbnb listings being rented. The crime rate, building permits and fancy restaurants all make it more desirable.”
Ford Cavallari, vice chairman at Alliance of Downtown Civic Organizations, said short-term rentals are an issue which is being discussed in all neighborhoods.
“It is hard to put a number on this but there are stretches on the streets where it’s just Airbnb next to Airbnb and it doesn’t feel like a neighborhood anymore,” Cavallari said. “Residents do not know if there is an Airbnb next to them or not, they are very obscured.”
Rep. Aaron Michlewitz of the Third Suffolk District, said he has been pushing for a bill, an Act Regulating and Insuring Short-Term Rentals, which aims to establish a statewide framework to regulate and tax short-term rentals which are initiated through online portals.
“Our bill believes that the small time, mom and pop, Airbnb’s are not the same business model as the person renting out an entire building and running a business through that,” Michlewitz said. “We understand that it’s complicated but these types of business should not be treated the same as the small-time ones.”
Several Boston residents said they agree there should be stricter regulations on short-term rentals, like Airbnb, due to their displacement of lower income residents.
David Elser, 25, of Jamaica Plain, said through his experience working for Action for Boston Community Development as a caseworker, he is concerned for housing development in the city.
“My clients’ financial struggles revolve around their inability to pay rent,” Elser said. “Obviously with the influx of high price rentals and pushing them out of these affordable houses it becomes a pretty big deal to us.”
Elser said there needs to be stronger legislation regarding landlords who are dodging codes by building apartments designated for long-term housing and renting them on a short-term basis.
“This type of action necessitates stronger legal action instead of just a slap on the wrist,” Elser said. “The money that is returned to the government needs to be returned to low-income housing.”
Holly Berry, 52, of Fenway, said she hopes lawmakers see the residents behind the displacement statistics.
“I know that this whole thing is about the numbers,” Berry said. “But I hope they heard the human side of this, there is a human factor to the whole story and I would like to hear more of that.”
John LaBella, 64 of Fenway, said his neighborhood is collapsing and he is not hopeful legislation calling for stricter regulations on short-term housing in Boston will come to fruition.
“What you see is a bunch of people who are hoping telling the facts will somehow change the behavior, but that’s not my experience,” LaBella said. “There are not enough people in the room to offset the number of people pro-Airbnb, so I’m not hopeful.”
