merridew

joined 2 years ago
[–] merridew 22 points 1 year ago (6 children)

If the owners are living in it at the same time, and you're renting out a room, that's hardly a hotel.

[–] merridew 14 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Equal pay is something women have had to fight for.

In this case,

the court found hundreds of mostly female employees working in roles such as teaching assistants, cleaners and catering staff missed out on bonuses which were given to staff in traditionally male-dominated roles such as refuse collectors and street cleaners.

Women in the UK only gained the right to equal pay in 1970.

[–] merridew 11 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

There are typically limits on residential building occupancy. To put the kibosh on things like this, for example:

Landlord who packed 40 tenants in four-bed Wembley home given first ever Brent Council banning order https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/london-rent-landlord-banned-brent-council-letting-out-properties-b1100768.html

I assume NYC has similar regulations. If the ordinary residents are also in the property, things could get quite snug.

[–] merridew 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Put my back out & can't get to the kettle.

[–] merridew 4 points 1 year ago

Oppressive regulations such as fire safety compliance?

[–] merridew 6 points 1 year ago

I find this viewpoint fascinating. Like arguing that trying to put out a burning building will hurt poor people trying to keep warm.

The housing market as a whole is the problem, one which AirBnB is exacerbating. That it locally enriches those renters able to find people willing to rent out their homes -- which I'm guessing is disproportionately going to be people without elderly family members & kids -- doesn't mean it isn't detrimental to the housing market as a whole, particularly at the lower end, and to everyone who rents.

[–] merridew 4 points 1 year ago

I don't think that's an ideal analogy. No-one sells meth legally.

It's more like selling people food prepared in your uninspected and potentially unsanitary kitchen, and complaining about being told to comply with the food hygiene regulations that every licensed business is required to adhere to.

[–] merridew 33 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (7 children)

For non-UK readers: UK councils have limited revenue-raising powers compared to local government in other countries, and rely on 3 sources of income:

  • Central government grants
  • Council tax (on residential properties)
  • Business rates (on commercial properties)

This amounts to c. 7% of the total UK tax base, versus c. 32% collected locally in Germany or 50% collected locally in Canada.

Central government grants were cut by 40% in real terms between 09/10 and 19/20 from £46.5bn to £28.0bn.

Council tax has gone up 30% over the same period, but it can't go up more than 2% annually without passing a referendum (unlikely). Some councils in dire straits have recently been allowed to raise it 5%.

Local authorities have been underfunded for over a decade. Other UK councils which have already declared bankruptcy, either through running out of money, or through losing vast amounts of money in risky schemes attempting to replace missing central funding:

  • Northamptonshire
  • Hackney
  • Slough
  • Thurrock
  • Croydon
  • Woking
[–] merridew 9 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Are you, by any chance, padding your income by subletting your rental home on AirBnB?

[–] merridew 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Just not nearly so many, and with so little regulation.

[–] merridew 11 points 1 year ago

Growth in home-sharing through Airbnb contributes to about one-fifth of the average annual increase in U.S. rents and about one-seventh of the average annual increase in U.S. housing prices.

Those struggling renters might not be struggling so much if other people renting out their apartments on AirBnB weren't pushing up their rent by an extra 20%.

Housing markets have problems. AirBnB is not a responsible solution to those problems.

https://hbr.org/2019/04/research-when-airbnb-listings-in-a-city-increase-so-do-rent-prices

[–] merridew 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

"Not having enough money to make what you are renting out safe for occupancy" is not an acceptable defence to renting out something that is unsafe for occupancy.

Fire doors will shortly be compulsory in all AirBnB properties in the UK. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/consumer-affairs/holiday-let-owners-airbnb-measures-fire-safety-crackdown

Approximately 18,000 Airbnbs in the UK do not have smoke detectors and nearly 65,000 have no carbon monoxide alarms, according to figures from analysts AirDNA.

Shocking. Safety regulations are written in blood.

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