It is not news; Airbnb is regularly accused to subtract an important share of properties from the residential market, to make it easier for the landlords to rent out their properties with a minimum tax impact, etc…
In some areas like Paris or Annecy, the real estate market is already very tense, prices and demand are high whereas the offer is not sufficient. But since about 5 years, Airbnb and other platforms modified the market even more, with easy to use apps, cheap prices, easy management, possibility for the landlords to not declare their income, etc… everyone could transform his home into a hotel.
And it works. Just in Annecy, there are 1’700 offers on Airbnb that generates 61’000 travelers per year.
When we know Annecy, 1’700 properties to let is a lot.
So the authorities decided that they needed to control the market to avoid a “real estate crisis” in the years to come.
From July 2018, each landlord who rent out his properties via Airbnb or another platform will have to declare his activity to the city hall and will get a number in return. Tax authorities will know about any rental income.
Also, if you own a holiday home and rent it out only a few days or weeks per year, you will now have to declare yourself to the city hall and ask for a change of use of your property, it will not be considered as a holiday home anymore but a rental property. The same if you own your main home in Annecy and rent it out more than 120 days per year.
At the moment only a few cities in France have voted this new rule, but no doubt that it will quickly spread to other places.
