Berlin bans Airbnb apartment letting
 

According to this article in the Independent Berlin no longer allows vacation rental of entire apartments. Renting a room in someone's home will still be allowed. This hits Airbnb primarily but affects all sites of a similar type.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/wo...-a7008891.html

Not surprised at all. The Air BnB model is really bad for cities that have a shortage of affordable housing (MANY cities) and I can see this cutting into their profits. They may end up focusing on resort/vacation only areas that have a lot of housing intended for short-term rental.

In Berlin, apartments have virtually been turned into vacation rentals which is a clear misuse and also a fraud (because rental apartments are subsidized).

Also, Airbnb has moved away from its sources which was the airbed or sofa bed in an occupied apartment.

We reserved an appartement for july on homeaway. 4 days ago the owner write me that rules change and to not worry if I saw that her add is not in the homeaway website anymore. She also told me that nothing is change for july. Should we find a plan b right Now ?

Waiting for the outcries of the ones bashing us who say the same about Paris.
How can a tourist still live like a local ?

>She also told me that nothing is change for july. Should we find a plan b right Now ?<

I don't think so. Even if the Berlin bureaucracy takes measures against AirBnB & co, with it's usual inefficiency it will take months before anything happens.

Air BnB must be realizing by now that you can't fight City Hall, as we Americans say. They keep insisting that all they are is an app, but if no one can use the app to rent out their apt/house/room/whatever, they will feel the pain. And just like Uber, they will have to embark on the arduous process of negotiating with a million jurisdictions to make the services legal somehow.

I am confident that Uber will accept regulation and be normalized and legalized eventually, because people like the service and the drivers like the employment.

AirBnB will be a tougher nut to crack, IMO.