FREMONT, Calif. — Starting early next year, Fremont aims to introduce a new rule: residents will need a permit to list their spaces on short-term rental platforms like Airbnb.
Next week, the Fremont City Council is expected to review a draft short-term rentals ordinance aimed at permitting some short-term rentals while safeguarding housing availability, maintaining affordable housing units, preserving neighborhood character and quality of life, and establishing a city registration system to ensure hosts are complying with regulations.
Airbnb has had a drastic impact on various aspects of the economy since it launched in 2008. While the San Francisco company offered homeowners with extra space a way to make some money and travelers with more options for accommodations, a 2019 study published in the Harvard Business Review found its rise also took housing for locals off the long-term rental market and offered it to visitors on the short-term rental market, driving up rents in the process.
“Policy makers around the world are struggling to find the best way to regulate home-sharing platforms like Airbnb,” the study stated. “On the one hand, these platforms allow homeowners to make money when they have more room than they need. On the other hand, absentee landlords are reducing the housing supply, which, in turn, increases the cost of living for local renters. According to our results, one way to reduce the latter effect while retaining the benefits of home-sharing would be to limit how many homes can be added to the short-term rental market, while still allowing owner-occupiers to share their extra space.”
The draft ordinance appears to adhere to those guidelines. It requires hosts to obtain a short-term rental permit from the Community Development Department if they plan to rent out all or a portion of their residence. There is no limit to the number of days they can rent out the space, but the dwelling must be the host’s primary residence and must neither qualify as affordable housing nor be an accessory structure or building.
Hosts will not be able to have more than one short-term rental in the city and only one short-term rental will be allowed at a time for each dwelling, with no more than two guests per bedroom.
Violations of the ordinance would result in fines and possible revocation of the permit. If a permit is revoked, the host will not be able to apply for another short-term rental permit for a two-year period.
Existing short-term rentals with a business tax identification number would have until Dec. 31, 2024, to submit their permit applications if the ordinance were approved as written.
The Fremont City Council is set to discuss the ordinance at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 12 in the City Council Chambers at City Hall, located at 3300 Capitol Avenue in Fremont.
More information about the draft ordinance can be found here.
Sonia Waraich can be reached at 510-952-7455.
