Airbnb, the housing market | Airbnb is destroying living environments in the center of Tromsø

Different laws apply For housing associations and condominium units. So bet on shared ownership. In condominiums, the owner of the apartment can rent it out for up to 90 days before it can be considered a business. No need to agree. The board can identify it for 60 days. But how do you control it?

In this way, living environments are transformed into commercial activities. The owners themselves do not live in the house. In housing associations, the entire apartment can only be used with the approval of the board of directors, while an additional bedroom can be rented out for up to 30 days. This usage was the original idea behind air-bnb about the sharing economy.

For other residents The situation is often sad and difficult in the condominium. Every day when they go out into the aisles they have no idea who they will meet or how many. Those who come have keys and access to the entire block of apartments. Tourists have no sense of responsibility for the place. A little bit of trash and mess is not their problem. The feeling of safety in the knowledge of those who live on the same floor disappears. Those who rent have a different, more distant relationship with their apartment(s).

slowly losing People control their living environment. Landlords can dominate condominium meetings and will of course maximize the rental period and reduce the costs associated with maintenance. When asked, like on Vervet, developers answer that they have no air-bnb reservations on their projects. It is known that some companies can buy large portions of the new blocks to rent them out to tourists.

At the same time, that is That there will be less weathering in Tromsø than in the city centre. Young people in particular are being pushed out of the city centre. This is because investors have better access to capital than ordinary people and can make more offers. This can contribute to an increase in the price level. At the same time, this business is tax-exempt. How should tax authorities gain insight into income and expenditure? There are no registration requirements. Nobody counts the number of overnight stays. A classic example of the black economy. Dear municipality, what percentage of apartments in the center are now being operated as air-bnb? Does the Norwegian Tax Administration have a scope overview?

The city center is slowly being transformed into a tourist backwater. A variety of shops have been replaced by souvenir shops, information desks and the like. We see shops heading towards Jekta and other places. Coffeehouses have gone global. Where is the local coffee shop now? In Jekta or Pyramidin? Tromsø’s reputation as a neighborhood magnet in the north may well disappear in mass tourism. Now we can actually see it if we know where it is rented; The curtains are drawn during the day and the windows darkened at night. The flats must be empty for the remaining 245 days of that year!

Many big cities suffer from the same problems. Central areas are slowly emptied. My model is Paris, where ordinary French men and women cannot afford to live so close to the city. A few large cities stepped in to keep the living environments at the center. Tromsø still has a chance to stop this development, but it requires political will. Who would dare to confront such an issue and change the law so that other property owners have more influence over their living environment?