merridew

Units made available as short-term rentals must also abide by building and fire codes, including one that prohibits placing locks between rooms and having certain sprinkler and fire alarm systems on the property.

The horror.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-09-05/airbnb-s-new-nyc-regulations-what-renters-and-hosts-need-to-know

Evidently AirBnB is not the only problem here, and building more residential homes is needed. But

discouraging using housing as an "investment" which then discourages predatory housing practices

is exactly what is happening here. If you can buy an empty property & rent it out to tourists for a chunk of money -- with better returns than you can get on the stock market -- people with capital will cheerfully do that. Except now with these rules there's little point in them trying that in NYC.

Renters are free to continue to use AirBnB to continue to pay their rent (bans on subletting notwithstanding) as long as they're still living in it at the time.

Long term capital considerations re. investment in real estate are a separate issue. Historically, housing has not performed like this.

I tell a lie. There is, in fact, an excellent case study for what happens without zoning laws. Houston.

Let's take a look at that:

Houston Derided as the Worst City in America in New Rankings https://www.papercitymag.com/culture/houston-worst-city-in-america-new-rankings-boston-2nd-worst

Houston among U.S. cities with worst air pollution, study finds, with minority areas hit the hardest https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/trending/article/cities-with-worst-air-quality-houston-pollution-17829505.php

Stats Reveal Truth About Houston's Housing Crisis https://www.texasobserver.org/houston-is-hailed-as-a-national-success-for-fighting-homelessness-but-the-reality-isnt-quite-as-rosy/

Houston’s Affordable Housing Problem Is Going To Intensify https://itexgrp.com/houstons-affordable-housing-problem-is-going-to-intensify

Houston, San Antonio and Dallas among cities with the most housing problems https://voz.us/houston-san-antonio-and-dallas-among-cities-with-the-most-housing-problems

Houston 1 of 4 cities with worst housing availability https://news.yahoo.com/houston-1-4-cities-worst-010144144.html

But turning half the units in that tall building full of dense housing into short-term lets that are a nuisance to the people who actually live there is okay in your book? Because, as you say, objecting to that would be "NIMBY".

Airbnb is way more profitable than conventional letting. Why would anyone offer stable leases to poor people when they can rent out the whole place for higher rates?

In some parts of my country, it is becoming functionality impossible for families to rent a property for a stable term, because landlords want properties vacant over the holidays for short-term lets.

https://www.dazeddigital.com/life-culture/article/59744/1/airbnb-is-making-life-hell-for-young-renters-in-tourist-hotspots-cornwall

But you think unregulated AirBnB is somehow a positive for housing?

Someone who owns a piece of land should be freely allowed to construct any residential structure they want, so long as the building is safe. 

A bold opinion that seems to have been quite conclusively rejected in cities across the world.

Apartments are residentially zoned. Hotels are commercially zoned (for good reason).

Turning residential homes into unregulated mini-hotels at scale depletes housing stock, and is a nuisance to residents.

This law effectively blocks residential homes from continuing to be used as hotel businesses operating out of residentially zoned areas, allowing residential units to once again be used as housing, and removing the nuisance to residents.

Please explain why you see this as a NIMBY net negative for housing.

... unwelcoming of misogyny? Surprising.

When it's used like that it is.

You wouldn't describe a man as "a male", and you wouldn't refer to your mother as "a female".

How is a law ending the stealth conversion of residentially zoned areas into commercial a net negative for housing?

Zoning laws exist for a reason.

PMQs is an opportunity for MPs to put questions to the Government, in public. If the government chooses to publicly dodge a legitimate question, that in itself is worth it.

Before Blair, PMQs were twice a week for 15 minutes. Once a week for 30 is a recent change. And before Wilson & Heath it was pretty civilised. That too is a recent change, and it's got markedly worse under the recent run of Tories.

Tear gas is not legal in the UK. Being found in possession of it can lead to a prison sentence of between 6 months and 10 years, and a fine.