Second French city sets up ‘Airbnb brigade’ targeting owners

While the debate surrounding overtourism rages across Europe, one French mayor has announced a novel plan to tackle the problem.

In Marseille, says he wants to make landlords who rent properties on Airbnb ‘buy back’ another property to put up for long-term rental to increase housing supply.

Speaking to the franceinfo radio station, Payan claimed that up to 75 per cent of property developers in the city were “not from Marseille”. He also suggested that the majority were renting out their properties using short-term rental sites, including Airbnb.

“I’m going to oblige anyone who wants to [rent out a property on] Airbnb to buy an apartment and put it up for long-term rental,” he said.

“I’m going to use everything the law allows me as a weapon… It’s going to make them stop wanting to make money off the people of Marseille.”

It’s not the first time the mayor of France’s second largest city has made his feelings on Airbnbs clear.

What is Benoît Payan’s plan to combat overtourism in Marseille?

Payan previously told Maritima radio that he wanted to “prohibit people whose second homes should be used for normal rentals from putting their accommodation on Airbnb”.

Currently, people in Marseille who want to rent out a second home on Airbnb must request authorisation for a change of use from the town hall, before being legally allowed to do so.

Payan claims that, before he became mayor in 2020, “four per cent of requests were refused”. Today, he says, that figure is 82 per cent.

“In Marseille, there will be the strictest and strongest regulations in France to fight against Airbnb,” Payan insisted to Maritima.

Along with Paris, Marseille has set up a so-called ‘Airbnb brigade’, which works to identify illegal listings.

All of France has strict rules on Airbnb rentals, but local authorities are also able to impose their own rules if they wish.

In recent years, an increasing number of mayors and local governments are choosing to do just that, in order to battle housing shortages and crack down on overtourism.

The French capital famously fought a long legal battle with Airbnb, which resulted in a ruling from the European Court of Justice which requires local authorisation for short-term property rentals.

In Paris, any rental of second homes on Airbnb is now prohibited, and all owners are limited on the number of days they are allowed to rent out their main home on the platform.

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On top of those regulations, any property owners – French or otherwise – renting out their property in France via Airbnb must declare their income to French tax authorities.

Airbnb itself also provides details of all yearly rentals to the French tax office, meaning renting out property in the country is rather less appealing than it has been in the past.