Parliamentarians from all sides on the offensive against Airbnb rentals

Airbnb, Abritel or Booking are once again in the sights of parliamentarians. Julien Bayou (MP EELV), Inaki Echaniz (MP PS), Christophe Pl***ard (MP Horizons) and Max Brisson (Senator LR) presented a cross-party initiative on Tuesday. It aims to regulate much more strongly the offer of short-term tourist rentals via these digital platforms. An offer that has become “excessive” in their view.

For these parliamentarians, there is urgency in the face of a housing crisis which is intensifying in a certain number of territories. “Across the country, there is a silent tsunami of flight from permanent housing to furnished tourist accommodation,” says Julien Bayou. With behind rents pulled up, but also, in some cases, housing shortages.

New accreditation

Result: “young people can no longer leave their parents’ homes, seasonal workers can no longer find accommodation…”, he underlines. A certain number of households are also forced to move a little further away from their place of work.

If Paris, Lyon and other big cities are particularly concerned, “it is not only a metropolitan subject. The phenomenon also strikes the coast – Brittany, Vendée, Charente-Maritime, the Basque Country, ”lists the deputy.

The four parliamentarians have therefore listed emergency measures – which the government could take – and call on the mayors to mobilize. The first of these is to remove the “tax niche” enjoyed by owners of accommodation rented in furnished tourist accommodation – with a reduction of 71% of property income.

This measure had been the subject of several amendments during the examination of the last finance bill, but it had been rejected. The Minister Delegate for Housing, Olivier Klein, was nevertheless favorable to it. But he had indicated at the time that on this subject, the government did not wish to act in haste.

It should be noted that a bill from deputies of the majority is also on the table, which suggests not removing this tax advantage but reducing the level of the allowance to 50% or 30% depending on the case in tense areas. .

Ban thermal colanders

Other suggestions from the four parliamentarians: limit to 90 instead of 120 the number of rental nights authorized each year on these platforms. And extend this provision to secondary residences, whereas only main residences are currently concerned.

It would also be a question of “implementing a ‘short-term furnished approval’ for all seasonal rentals”. This approval would be issued at the national level by an external organization – which would make it possible both to control the quality of the housing put on the market and to relieve the municipalities of these subjects.

The government had also promised that accommodation rented on Airbnb and other tourist rental platforms between individuals would also be subject to the ban on renting thermal sieves . But so far, nothing has been done. The four parliamentarians return to the charge on this subject. “We want to correct this anomaly”, continues Julien Bayou. This provision also appears in the aforementioned bill.

“The couple who put a little butter in the spinach by renting their apartment to tourists when they’re not there, that’s not a problem […]. But today, there is a form of parasitism. Some buy apartments to spend only on Airbnb. This creates unfair competition for hoteliers and disrupts territories, ”summarizes the EELV deputy. That’s what it would be about ending.