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In recent years, the sharing economy has boomed. The most common form of this is seen in Airbnb and other short-term rental services. Cities are facing several challenges when it comes to regulating short-term rentals. These issues include the lack of accountability, safety concerns, and an inability to manage multiple properties. Allowing software companies to take control could help cities address these problems by providing them with solutions that make it easier for them to monitor their short-term rental market. These types of transactions are not rare and can be found in many major cities around the world. However, there’s a problem: these transactions often go unregulated and leave city governments with no control over what goes on within their borders. This blog post will discuss 3 reasons why cities should use software to better manage short-term rentals!
1. They are currently unregulated.
The first main issue is that they are unregulated by cities themselves. Many short-term rentals operate without any sort of license or permit, allowing them to avoid being taxed or monitored by city governments. This can lead to problems such as increasing the number of empty housing units in a given area, which leaves fewer homes for people who wish to live there long term. At this point, it’s clear that regulation needs to happen eventually, but many cities are unsure how to approach the situation since city borders generally only encompass traditional residences and not additional properties rented out on Airbnb or other services.
2. They are rapidly growing.
Spending on global short-term rentals grew from $13 billion in 2014 to an estimated $31 billion in 2016, according to research firm Euromonitor International. These types of short-term rentals are expanding rapidly and efficiently managing them is essential for the future of cities. For example, many residents who would like to live in these large cities could be unable due to lack of space or affordability issues caused by external people taking up homes that they don’t even use!
3. They require unique regulation.
Finally, since short-term rentals are so different than your normal residences regulations must reflect this. Yet many governments find themselves unsure where to start or how to begin creating rules that will work best for their citizens. By using software to manage these properties city governments can automate the process of approving and collecting taxes on short-term rentals. This will reduce the amount of human error and focus city employees’ time on more complex issues. Additionally, by managing every aspect of a short-term rental’s existence – from application to payment – city governments will have an easier time making sure these homes are being used by the people for who they were intended. These reasons show why self-management is a great solution for this new age problem. It allows cities to maintain their autonomy, mitigate problems that arise from lack of regulation, and ensure that all necessary taxes are paid.
To conclude, because these types of rentals are so different than traditional ones regulations must acknowledge them as such. It’s also clear that many cities are currently struggling with how to approach this situation. By using software to manage short-term rentals city governments can automate the process of approving and collecting taxes on short-term rentals. This will reduce human error and focus city employees’ time on more complex issues.
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