Bruxelles : un lien établi entre la présence d’Airbnb et la hausse du prix des loyers – Le Soir
First of all, as with any study, it is important to exercise caution before drawing hasty conclusions. STR-Belgium had the opportunity to contribute to this article, without having been able to consult the study at this stage.
Beyond the interesting timing of the publication of this study, on the eve of debates in the Brussels Parliament on the draft new ordinance establishing the regulatory framework for tourist accommodation, STR-Belgium notes the following points:
- As we do not currently have information on the content of this study, we cannot assess to what extent the relevant parameters were isolated and their impact analysed — we refer the reader to STR-Belgium’s contribution in the article’s boxed section and to the PwC study in France highlighting the extremely significant impact of vacant housing.
- The decoupling of correlation with sale prices seems intuitively troubling if the claim that the presence of short-term rentals would lead to higher rents were to prove correct. Equally surprising is the absence of correlation between the decrease in the concentration of “Airbnbs” and the decrease in rents. Let us wait until we are able to review the study — which, moreover, should ideally be updated with more recent data, as we are approaching 2024 and many factors have evolved during the particular periods of recent years.
- “… A change that was accompanied by increasing professionalisation of the supply — a Brussels specificity …”
As a member of EHHA, STR-Belgium can affirm that a professional serviced residence sector has the right to exist in all European cities, thanks to genuine regulatory mechanisms, unlike in the Brussels Region where the authorities pursue a prohibition policy (is this the Brussels specificity?) resulting in an underground market that has developed, to the detriment of everyone (citizens, tourists, the hotel sector, …).
- “Pieter-Paul Verhaeghe nevertheless remains cautious in his conclusions, acknowledging that ‘complete causality’ cannot be claimed.”
We appreciate the researcher’s humility and will pay close attention to how the study introduces nuance, along the spectrum from “no causality” to “complete causality.”
- We note that Professor Verhaeghe acknowledges that the arguments of supporters of the system are valid — particularly regarding the fact that the number of properties concerned is small relative to the scale of the housing crisis. “The large companies specialised in this type of tourist rental are not present in the poor crescent. They are not responsible for the situation in Molenbeek or Anderlecht. They contribute to rent increases in certain neighbourhoods, but other factors must also be taken into account.” Without endorsing the study’s conclusions, we note here an important argument that is also emphasised by the Court of Justice of the European Union (Cali Apartments, 2020), which we frequently reference elsewhere. Beyond everything that is problematic in the current ordinance and its proposed replacement (see open letter to the Minister-President), one may question how it could have been established in an undifferentiated manner across all neighbourhoods of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region. See also the issue of the PRAS in this regard.
- STR-Belgium welcomes the other suggestions put forward by the sociologist and remains open to discussion: introducing progressive tourist taxes and achieving a better distribution of supply across the entire Region. “There are too many listings in the city centre. But there could be more supply in other municipalities where there are very few tourist accommodations of this type and where this could benefit the hospitality sector — for example on the other side of the canal, which also acts as a boundary for Airbnb.” Saying that there is too much supply in the city centre does not mean that supply in the hyper-centre should be completely eliminated — that would be entirely illogical. Implementing a genuine regulatory mechanism — also taking demand into account — would be an excellent step, but we are still far from that at this stage. Finally, we welcome the fact that the Professor recognises that the serviced residence sector benefits the hospitality industry!
