Airbnb is once again in turmoil. After the criticisms by the small amount of income tax paid by the platform in 2016 in France, the mairie of Paris just indicate that the fines for illegal rental of furnished tourist had been multiplied by ten between the first half of 2016 and first half 2017. If these fines do not relate only to the rented accommodation by Airbnb, it is the american site that is mainly concerned with its 65.000 housing units available for rent in the capital (over 100,000 housing units for all platforms combined).
For the first six months of 2017, 31 owners have been sentenced to pay court 615.000 euros in fines, indicated to the AFP Ian Brossat, adjoint PCF to the housing, the mayor PS of Paris Anne Hidalgo, thus confirming figures revealed by Le Parisien. In the first half of 2016, the fines had amounted to 45.000 euros, i.e. 13 times less, up to 200,000 euros for the entire year. The gripes by the City to the justice are also passed for 42 dwellings in 2016 128 2017, he said.
The “patrol” has become more effective
“We note with satisfaction that the judges will have the heavier hand than before,” points out Ian Bossat. The maximum fine is in effect from November 2016 increased to € 50,000 from 25,000 previously. In Paris, the average amount of the fines has, de facto, doubled year on year, reaching 20,000 euros in 2017, said the deputy.
However, “these figures do not reflect an explosion in the number of accommodations offered, but the effectiveness of the controls,” according to the elected paris. “We are more caught up by the patrol than before,” he smiles. Like all major tourist cities, the French capital, which employs a team of 25 officers of the department of housing and the habitat to control the buildings, a number of initiatives to combat the furnished rentals tourist illegal that develop at the expense of the hotel sector, promote real estate speculation, emptied some neighborhoods of their inhabitants, and are causing daily hardships for others.
As a reminder, the limit on the duration of a apartment furnished tourist is set to 120 days per year, a duration that the City of Paris would like to see reduced. In early July, the council of Paris has voted the establishment of a number of mandatory registration from December, for anyone wishing to as well rent out his apartment on a digital platform
>> Read also Airbnb : the registration at the city hall will be mandatory
(with AFP)
