Richon, Jeanne

Paris’s Airbnb owners: adapting to and bypassing the law - 2024.


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This article analyses how the owners of Airbnb properties deal with the law in Paris. By investigating the regulations on housing use and subletting, we explore the impact of legislation on renters’ behaviour and practices. Twenty-two interviews, conducted in 2016 and 2020 with Parisian Airbnb renters, highlight the diversity of the positions and strategies adopted. We propose a typology built around 3 factors: the lawfulness of their rental practices; their knowledge of the legislation; their actions, ranging from compliance to circumvention. The last part of the paper casts light on the challenges of enforcing the legislation by describing the adaptation and bypass strategies employed by some renters. This work seeks to go beyond a binary interpretation of the law which would merely distinguish between regular and irregular practices. It shows that Airbnb owners’ relation to the law is complex and shifting, fuelled by different choices and adaptation processes.