ABOUT US

Better Neighbors LA is a coalition of Southern California hosts, tenants, housing advocates, hotel workers, and community members. We believe the best way to support true sharing for hosts and guests is also the best way to protect jobs and the community: by curbing illegal commercial activity in the short-term rental industry.

Our mission is to support enforcement of the City of Los Angeles’ Home Sharing Ordinance, conduct research on the short-term rental industry and its impact on affordable housing and gentrification in LA and to develop policy to protect housing, hotel jobs and neighborhoods impacted by the short-term rental industry.

Los Angeles Affordable Housing is in Crisis

Los Angeles is facing an affordable housing crisis with a severely limited stock of rental housing, and the Short-Term Rental Platforms, like Airbnb, are exacerbating the problem.

Thanks to the platforms, the greater Los Angeles region is losing desperately needed housing as commercial operators convert long-term residential housing into short-term rentals for tourists.

The equation is simple: short-term rental companies invade a city and take long-term housing off the market to convert to short-term options, thereby restricting the available housing supply for both buyers and renters. When the supply of housing goes down, rent goes up for all renters.

Study after study confirms that the majority of short-term rental listings come from commercial operators, as opposed to individual homeowners, causing cities like Los Angeles to suffer from a loss of affordable housing and attacks on the nature of residential neighborhoods.

Based on the City of Los Angeles Home Sharing Ordinance (CF 14-1635-S2), only  the owner’s primary residence may be provided for short-term rental and for a limited number of days in a given year. These two threshold requirements are frequently violated.

We must fight back to protect affordable housing stock and maintain the integrity of the neighborhoods from illegal short-term rentals.

A park scene in a city with a walkway, tall palm trees, and people walking and sitting. There is a body of water with boats, and a city skyline with high-rise buildings in the background.

Public Safety

Fire safety and building code violations and hazards are rampant in short-term rentals because residential buildings do not meet the same fire and safety code standards as commercial hotels.

Racial Discrimination

Two Harvard Business School studies show that Airbnb hosts are 16% less likely to rent to guests with African American sounding names, and African American hosts make 12% less than white hosts with identical listings.

Quality of Life Issues

Short-term rentals can undermine the character of residential neighborhoods through increased traffic, loss of parking, noise and wild parties at night, littering, and extra wear and tear on building public areas.