Protestors Highlight Airbnb's Role In The Housing Crisis And Demand Total Ban

Airbnb's role in the housing crisis in Dublin was plunged into deeper controversy in Dublin on Saturday, when a group of housing activists occupied the premises of the tech 'holiday rental' outfit on Hanover Quay.

"Take Back the City have occupied the offices of Airbnb on Hanover Quay in the Docklands,” a statement, issued to Hot Press by the Take Back The City group, said. The purpose of the protest was to highlight Airbnb's role in the housing crisis in Dublin.

"We did this on the weekend of Open House Dublin, Ireland’s biggest Architecture festival. The Airbnb HQ was open to the public as part of this festival; it has now been shut down. We are occupying the central atrium of this beautifully designed building in protest against Airbnb’s impact on the housing crisis in Ireland - and across the world.”

The protest group, members of which have been in the vanguard of the drive to highlight the misuse of buildings in Dublin, and the extent to which private dwellings are being removed from the housing stock by private landlords, described the action as a form of “disrupting the disruptors." Take Back The City are convinced that the shift of properties to use for short term lets underlines the serious nature of Airbnb's role in the housing crisis in Ireland.

The statement also highlighted facts and statistics which underline the impact of Airbnb on the availability of housing in Ireland, and more particularly in Dublin, and its contribution to the current housing crisis. It included the following assertions:

"As of August 2018 there were 3,165 entire properties for rent on Airbnb in Dublin, compared to 1,329 properties available for longterm rent on Daft.ie

"This is at a time when there are over 1,350 families homeless in the greater Dublin region alone

"In 2015, Airbnb lobbied the Irish government to ensure profits made through Airbnb got a substantial tax break

"In 2017, there was a 63% increase in Airbnb usage across Ireland. During the same time period, homelessness in Ireland increased by 2,000 people

"Our tenant support groups frequently hear from people who have been evicted on grounds of “significant renovations”, only to find their old homes subsequently rented out on AirBnb and other short-term letting platforms

"Airbnb appears to have rapidly colonised vast amounts of our city, locking people out of homes.

"The budget will accelerate this process, as it incentivises landlords to buy for let only, and as we all know, Airbnb gives you a much higher yield per property than just renting to long-term residents."

The statement went on to provide an analysis of Airbnb's role in the housing crisis in more general terms.

"Airbnb have exacerbated the housing crisis in Dublin and Ireland as a whole. A platform that markets convenience by “disruption” has delivered nothing but chaos to the people of our city. They have no place in our city – the city should serve the needs of all its people, not the needs of tech, finance and the tourism industry. Today was another strong showing of people power and civil disobedience – the only two tactics that can drive a solution to this crisis."

Take Back the City also issued a series of demands for actions by government, in order to reduce the current housing emergency. Despite the opposition of the Government, and the Housing Minister, Eoghan Murphy, the Dáil voted last week to declare a state of emergency in relation to the housing crisis. The demands are as follows:

"All vacant land and property be taken by compulsory purchase order and put to social use as universal public housing.

All vacant land and property across the country be taken into public ownership and put to public and community use.

Tenant Security and Fair Rent: Ban all evictions, reduce and cap rent at 20% of the occupants income or at €300 per room per month."

The statement concluded with the demand for a total ban on Airbnb...

"In addition to our original demands,” the statement went on, "we are calling for:

A total ban on Airbnb and short-term letting platforms in the city; regulation has failed in other cities, we need only to look at Amsterdam or Berlin to realise this. A total ban is the only way of reversing the effect of short-term letting on our crisis."