Armed with angle grinders, the Marseille Council is removing key boxes hung in public view, used for short-term holiday rentals, such as Airbnb.
Marseille authorities are setting out on the hunt for key boxes that give keys to entrances of houses and apartments, and also hung on street furnishings such as benches, signposts, fences, and barriers. These small coded padlock-type cases allow owners of unlicensed short-term rentals, such as Airbnb advertisers, to provide keys to visitors without having to meet them personally.
The phenomenon has been accentuated by the explosion of short-term rentals in Marseille. There are already nearly 13,000 in the city today. After having placed a sticker on the key boxes to warn the owners of their misdemeanour, the council workers then cut them off with an angle grinder.
Marseille sends ‘strong’ message to tourist rentals
This is meant as an initial ‘strong’ message in the face of the excesses of unlicensed tourist rentals. It seems if the investment seems juicy enough for the owners, it deprives the locals of housing opportunities, in the midst of one of the most serious housing crises in recent memory. There are now almost one in 10 dwellings in the 1st arrondissement dedicated solely to tourist accommodation.
Rental licensing laws have become extremely strict over the last couple of years in Marseille, and the city has decided to fight back. Mayor Benoît Payan promised ‘the strictest regulation in all of France to fight against Airbnb’. He aims to prevent all short-term rental of second homes.
Those owners who wish to rent their second home as a tourist apartment will now have to compensate by simultaneously creating another family-oriented home for rent.
‘We are only going to rent out to long-term citizens,’ said Patrick Amico, municipal councillor for housing. ‘Complain to the original operators of platforms like Airbnb. Only a main residence that can be rented for at least 120 days a year.’
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