Austinites weigh new short-term rental rules, including an online training course

City officials say new rules would 'promote responsible STR ownership,' but locals have concerns.

Rolling out new short-term rental regulations can take time. An important phase in the process often includes hearing from community members, a step the city of Austin has now taken as it considers proposed rules. 

Austin has around 2,200 licensed short-term rentals, but thousands more are estimated to operate in the area surrounding the city. 

City leaders heard public comment at a recent City Council and Planning Commission meeting. One city official said the proposed amendments to short-term rental rules “are intended to promote responsible STR ownership, to help manage affordability issues and to improve our hotel occupancy tax collection.”

But some property owners warned the new rules could “push out locals” trying to operate a short-term rental. 

The new rules could include changing zoning so the city can regulate the properties as businesses, and a density cap on how close two short-term rentals can be to each other. 

Owners with an existing license would be allowed to continue operating their short-term rental. But they would have to complete several new requirements, including an online training course, a self-certified safety checklist and $1 million in liability insurance.

The city attempted to regulate short-term rentals in 2016. But a state court ruled the regulations unconstitutional. 

New and Proposed Regulations:

• Kentucky: A new bill in the Kentucky Senate would restrict local government oversight over short-term rentals. (link)  
• Lackawanna, New York: City officials voted to ban short-term rentals, including forcing existing rentals to shut down. (link) 
• Dallas, Texas: An appeals court ruled that two city ordinances that critics argued effectively banned short-term rentals did in fact violate the city’s constitution. (link)
• Greensboro, North Carolina: City councilors are considering lifting a recruitment that short-term rental properties be at least 750 feet apart. (link)
• Providence, Rhode Island: With the number of short-term rentals on the rise, the city commission is weighing how to responsibly regulate properties, including a possible 5% hotel tax. (link)

Other Noteworthy News:

• Solo travel: Not everyone wants a partner by their side on Valentine’s Day. In the lead up to the holiday, demand for solo trips has doubled, according to Airbnb search traffic. (link) 
• Changing landscape: The head enforcer of New York’s de facto short-term rental ban said the crack down on illegal properties “is working.” (link)
• Tripled rates: Some Airbnb hosts more than tripled rates as evacuees struggled to find temporary housing in the wake of the recent Los Angeles wildfires, a coalition of housing activists found. (link)