By James Solomon and Mira Prinz-Arey

As elected representatives, our first job is to represent our communities. Our proposed reform of short-term rental (i.e. Airbnb) regulations prioritizes the neighborhoods we represent over real estate investors through three key provisions: First, it permits homeowners to use their homes for true home sharing. Second, it protects renters by preserving housing stock and lowering rent prices. Most importantly, it strengthens our communities with long-term residents invested in their neighborhood’s health and growth.

Jersey City needs these strong regulations because each of us frequently hears from long-time residents forced to leave the community they love because of rising rental prices. Just this past week, Councilman Solomon spoke to a family of four 20-year residents of Manila Avenue, whose landlord jacked up the rent to an unaffordable level. Councilwoman Prinz-Arey has spoken with families on the West Side of the city and has heard similar stories. She spoke with one family on Grant Avenue whose landlord wanted a large rent increase when the lease was renewed.

While there are many reasons rents have skyrocketed, allowing short-term rentals such as Airbnb to turn our housing stock into hotels is a major factor. Corporate Airbnbs, often run by multimillion-dollar investors, increase rental prices through basic supply and demand: They remove apartments from the rental market and bring them into the hotel market. That decreases hotel prices — great for tourists — and increases rental prices — terrible for long-term renters. Airbnb refuses to share its data but using sources such as Inside Airbnb, we can estimate that between 3 and 5% of all apartments in Jersey City — and 5 to 10% of all apartments Downtown — are now used as short-term rentals, creating significant upward pressure on rental prices.

Academic research confirms that Airbnbs drive up the rent. A study of New York City concluded that the average New Yorker pays nearly $350 more in rent, with some paying up to $700 more in rent, because of Airbnb. Jersey City is no different. While we don’t have a study similar to the one in NYC, Jersey City’s recently published “Housing Element” based on data from the Census Bureau tells an unsettling story. Despite a huge increase in housing supply (13% over seven years), Jersey City’s rental prices continue to increase. Between 2015 and 2017, rents increased by 6% citywide, with the highest spikes Downtown — where the largest concentration of Airbnbs occurs.

Corporate Airbnbs’ negative effects extend beyond rental increases; they degrade our residential neighborhoods. Unstaffed hotels lead to significant quality-of-life problems. Residents testified before the City Council or called our offices to complain about gas leaks that endangered an infant; partiers sneaking onto their roofs; trash left strewn about while a “host” who lives hundreds of miles away refuses to clean it up. At a community meeting, one resident succinctly summed up the problem: “When I moved here, I chose to live in a neighborhood, not in a hotel.”

Long-term residents will also better support our local small businesses over transient tourists. Local restaurant owner Laura Skolar, in her testimony before the City Council, outlined the key problem:

“I’ve had the opportunity to engage in conversation with tourists passing through our restaurant. Never, ever have they said that Jersey City is their ‘destination’; it’s always NYC. ... So, while they are giving us business, I feel that we are actually losing business. They are not helping to ‘sustain and grow’ our business. They’re here and they’re gone. The heart of our business is the community, bottom line. If the majority of available rental units are short-term, the sense of community and neighborhood will disappear.”

A study from the Economic Policy Institute backs up Ms. Skolar’s observation: “Studies claiming that Airbnb is supporting a lot of economic activity often vastly overstate the effect because they fail to account for the fact that much of this spending would have been done anyway by travelers staying in hotels.”

Simply put: The council faces a choice between prioritizing neighbors or investors. We encourage the council to pass these sensible regulations tomorrow, Tuesday, June 25, to protect homeowners, renters, and neighbors.

James Solomon represents Ward E, Downtown, and Mira Prinz-Arey represents Ward B, West Side, on the Jersey City council.

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