Airbnb Contributing to Ongoing Housing Crisis in the Hudson Valley
An Airbrb office located in Toronto, Ontario. Credit: Open Grid Scheduler / Grid Engine via Flickr
On top of the ongoing housing crisis, the Hudson Valley housing market has another enemy for the local citizens trying to find affordable housing; Airbnb.
When Airbnb was founded in 2008, short-term housing rentals were illegal in most cities across the country. Despite this, founder and CEO Brian Chesky over the next decade went after existing housing and rental laws and dodged regulations. With lobbying efforts, public influence campaigns and folding local governments into their corporate hierarchy, Airbnb was rendered successful and benefitted other rental platforms like Vrbo.
By 2019, cities that had once been staunch Airbnb supporters in the past were suddenly beginning to change their tune. In the past few years, towns and cities in the Hudson Valley have become part of this. Naturally, there has been an influx of new listings popping up in the Hudson Valley as proprietors seek to avoid these new regulations.
The Hudson Valley has already become a prime target for gentrification in recent years as expensive housing costs in New York City push people out and into cities like Kingston, Beacon and Poughkeepsie. This influx of people from the city has acted to increase the cost of living for the Hudson Valley’s most economically vulnerable residents. This is happening at a time when low-income properties are being purchased and renovated into short-term rentals to market on platforms like Airbnb, as a New York Times report explains.
The town of Red Hook was under the microscope in 2021 over regulations that were approved by the Red Hook Town Board limiting short-term rentals, as the Poughkeepsie Journal reported. These regulations in Red Hook followed other Hudson Valley town's laws on short-term rentals like Rhinebeck, Beacon, Pawling and more.
“Town officials say they can help ensure housing is not bought specifically for short-term rental use, at a time when there is a growing need for affordable apartments and homes.” per the Poughkeepsie Journal regarding the Red Hook local laws.
Despite these laws, this has not slowed down the rates at which the Hudson Valley is still combating this housing issue, contributing to the ongoing housing crisis.
However, that also isn’t stopping nonprofits from stepping in to help the locals. “Homes Are Not Hotels” is the campaign title for Hudson Valley advocacy nonprofit For the Many to see legislative change in housing in the region.
For The Many “Homes Are Not Hotels” campaign website cites data that “with each increase in Airbnb listings in a U.S. ZIP code, there are increases in rental and housing prices.”
Their proposed legislation for local laws would ban vacation rentals in total. Additionally, it would include short-term rental owners submitting documentation that certifies that their short-term rental listing is their primary residence and hefty fines for those who violate this, their website explains.
The local nonprofit has had prior successes in housing reform with the Good Cause Eviction laws in Poughkeepsie, Newburgh, Beacon and Kingston. Good Cause Eviction laws protect tenants from unconscionably massive rent hikes and landlords refusing to renew leases without reason.
For The Many community organizers and lifelong resident of Newburgh, Rene Meija told More Perfect Union that his landlord had been trying to sell their family home even though his family had always paid their rent, even going so far as to show the house to prospective buyers who told the Meijas they planned on converting their home into Airbnbs.
The Meija’s were eventually able to negotiate with their landlord to keep their home but at the cost of an $800/month rent increase.
This has been a fight for almost a decade far and wide throughout the country, but the Hudson Valley towns are continuing to put their foot down to make the area a livable place for the residents.