Airbnb to limit hosting to one listing per in San Francisco

Bay City News
Friday, August 19, 2016
(KGO-TV)
vod-KGO-TV

MENLO PARK Calif. -- San Francisco users of the short-term accommodation site Airbnb will only be allowed to post listings at one address starting Nov. 1, the company announced Tuesday.

EXCLUSIVE: Local woman says home trashed by Airbnb guest

Since announcing in April that commercial operators were not allowed on the site in San Francisco, Airbnb has removed 213 entire-unit listings and 525 shared spaces, or "hacker hostels," from the site.

In addition, 180 entire-unit listings were voluntarily removed by hosts with multiple listings.

"The vast majority of Airbnb hosts in San Francisco are hard-working, middle-class residents who use their extra space to address economic inequality," Airbnb officials said in a statement.

"Home sharing is also an economic boon to the city, driving over $338 million in economic impact to the city, including $107 million spent by guests at restaurants, mostly in neighborhoods outside downtown," the statement said.

The city of San Francisco has battled to regulate Airbnb, including requiring registering short-term rental properties with the city and imposing time limits on rentals.

RELATED: Halloween treat: send a night at Dracula's castle

Board of Supervisors president London Breed and Supervisor Aaron Peskin on Oct. 12 introduced new legislation that would impose a 60-night annual cap on short-term rentals, regardless of whether the host is on-site or not, a sharp reduction from the current 90-night limit for un-hosted rentals and 365-night limit for hosted rentals.