September 15, 2016
The UK parliament’s influential Business, Innovation, and Skills (BIS) select committee is worried Airbnb is driving up property prices in London and has asked Sadiq Khan whether the law should be changed. Iain Wright, chair of the BIS select committee, has written to Mayor of London Sadiq Khan to ask whether he thinks greater restrictions should be placed on Airbnb hosts. Here is the key passage from the letter, dated Wednesday (emphasis ours): “During my Committee’s recent inquiry into the Digital Economy, we heard evidence that while companies such as Airbnb can enable homeowners to unlock economic value by temporarily letting spare rooms, extensive use of Airbnb by professional landlords, contrary to the current law, can help to drive up property prices, compounding issues of affordability in the capital.”…
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/airbnb-pushing-up-prices-london-sadiq-khan-advice-2016-9