Airbnb believes it has made York a more affordable place to live – a claim received with scepticism by city leaders.
A study commissioned by Airbnb claimed its holiday lets may have improved the affordability of housing in York – by bringing empty properties into use and providing homeowners with extra income.
The Ernst & Young report says trips linked to Airbnb added £44m to York’s economy and supported more than 685 jobs in 2023.
The estimates are based on spending on local retail, leisure and transport by guests in their holiday lets.
The economic benefit equates to £42 per household per month in York, according to the study which analysed the impact of Airbnb from 2015 to last year.
The amount of homes listed in their entirety for more than 90 days a year in York was about 0.55 per cent of the local housing stock.
Two fifths of York hosts also said extra income from Airbnb helped them to afford their homes.
Company data showed the majority of York hosts let out one space such as a spare room for an average of less than four nights a month.
After the report was published, Airbnb urged the government to forge ahead with plans to regulate the industry drawn up by the previous Conservative administration.
These rules would see holiday lets subject to the planning process and a national register set up to give councils access to information about them.
A Government spokesperson said the rules would be introduced as soon as possible.
‘Inflated house prices’
City of York Council housing lead Cllr Pavolic welcomed Airbnb’s support for regulations but said he was sceptical of a study the company itself had commissioned.
The executive member said: “We know the number of these types of lets has jumped from the hundreds to the thousands in recent years and whatever this contributes to the local economy, it also comes at a cost.
“This cost is falling school rolls that can threaten the viability of schools, inflated house prices, fewer permanent residents, numerous instances of antisocial behaviour and less council tax income to fund local services as properties register as businesses to benefit from business rates relief.”
Labour’s York Central MP Rachael Maskell has called for tougher regulations for the industry.
She said the study did not reflect how holiday lets had disrupted communities despite the benefits tourism could bring.
The MP added local hoteliers and hospitality owners told her the lack of affordable housing in York had left them struggling to recruit staff, underscoring the need for change.
Ms Maskell said: “The impact of short term lets is highly localised, and most extreme where they expand in concentrated clusters.
“In York we already have very high quality and well established tourism infrastructure, meaning we are ready to serve our guests and gain the economic benefits without putting local housing at risk by allowing the unfettered expansion of holiday lets.
“We need new laws that will help ensure that as many as possible of our new and existing homes are available to and affordable for local people.”
Airbnb Northern Europe general manager Ms Cupples said: “We welcome regulations and we have led in calling for national legislation for short-term lets to help make communities stronger.
“We want to make it easy for local authorities such as York to track the positive impacts of home sharing, and for additional targeted measures to
be introduced to support the sustainable growth of short-term letting activity, where needed.”