| "The devastating effect is caused by the fact that they aren't building enough housing." [X] "Don't blame Airbnb when you refuse to build enough housing, the markets going to figure out how to market." AirBnB reduces the already limited supply of available housing. [Y] AirBnB makes a bad situation worse. We should ignore this because the bad situation exists? WTF. Problem X is exacerbated by Problem Y. Therefore, according to HN commenter, "Problem Y is not the problem. The problem is Problem X." Who is persuaded by such nonsensical reasoning. 1. According the study, Problem Y is a legitimate problem. HN commenter provides no evidence to counter/invalidate the findings. 2. Assuming Problem X exists and AirBnB knows it exists, then AirBnB is consciously making a bad situation worse. For profit. https://cjur.uwinnipeg.ca/index.php/cjur/article/download/27... "Through removing housing that would otherwise be available on the long-term rental market Airbnb is reducing housing supply and, in turn, housing affordability." In other words, converting long-term rentals into short-term rentals using AirBnB reduces the effective supply of available housing. This may in turn cause long-term housing prices to increase. The study suggests the effects of AirBnB are not felt evenly across Canada. For example, some areas are adversely affected while others are not. "Five years ago, short-term rentals in cities - both in Canada and abroad - were almost universally illegal with the exception of licenced bed and breakfasts. STRs were illegal either through bans on commercial uses in residential areas, through fire codes and regulations on lodgings, or through explicit bans on rentals below a certain threshold of nights. Despite operating in a legal grey area at best, STRs facilitated by platforms such as Airbnb have proliferated." |