New Air B&B / STR regulations proposed in Boston.

[Charlie MacPherson]

Mayor Marty Walsh has just filed a regulation for Boston that allows OWNER OCCUPIED short term rentals to continue - with annual fees, of course.

However, for non owner occupied / investor-owned STRs, the proposed regulation would require the investor to get the property reclassified from residential to commercial.  That seems unlikely, given the drumbeat of political pressure against STRs in Boston.

The purported rationale is that STRs remove units from the inventory available for long term leases, driving up rental prices and reducing availability for renters.  If Mayor Walsh thinks that Air B&B is responsible for rising rent prices in Boston, he needs to think again.

My bet is that the regulation will pass.  Once again, politicians bring the hammer down on entrepreneurs.  Death by regulation seems to be the goal.