Illegal vacation rentals harming community

Airbnb is a $30 billion behemoth whose business model has depended on ignoring local regulations in the name of growth and profit. It claims the number of vacation rentals in Hawaiʻi is minuscule compared with the total number of housing units, but in fact, that total number is irrelevant. The appropriate comparison is how many units are needed to house our residents.

A recent report by the state Department of Economic Development and Tourism determined Hawaiʻi will need 65,000 more homes by 2025. That estimation is similar to the Hawaiʻi Housing Finance and Development Corporation’s (HHFDC)’s projection that between 2015 and 2020, we have a housing shortage of 29,500 units. The Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority estimates over 27,000 vacation rentals in the state are advertised online. The overwhelming number of these rentals are illegal. Every home used illegally as a visitor lodging business is one less home for our residents.

In tight housing markets with low vacancy rates, any reduction in supply naturally increases rents, particularly because neither the market nor the public sector can quickly add to housing stock. Airbnb indirectly reduces the affordable housing supply by reducing the overall housing supply of units available for long-term rentals.