The Tel Aviv City Council resolved at its meeting yesterday evening to convey to the municipality executive a proposal that it should consider a special rate of arnona (municipal tax) on apartments let through the Airbnb website for more than three months a year. The Municipality issued a statement saying, "The proposal was adopted in view of the sharp rise in the number of Airbnb apartments let commercially for long periods, and the harm caused thereby to residents' way of life in particular, and in general to prices in the rental housing market." The Municipality says that the proposal is not an impulsive measure, and that it will be discussed after having been examined by a professional team "in the context of staff work carried out by the Tel Aviv Global (Ir Olam) municipal corporation together with the Municipality's Center for Economic & Social Research." RELATED ARTICLES Amid confusion, Airbnb still lists Jewish settlement homes Airbnb backs down over Jewish settlement ban Justice Ministry nixes Tel Aviv apartment rental via Airbnb The decision could of course prove a cold shower for the city's burgeoning Airbnb rental market, and could signal to other local authorities how to deal with the phenomenon. A few weeks ago, "Globes" reported a precedent-setting legal ruling forbidding a homeowner in an apartment building in Tel Aviv from letting it through Airbnb because of the building's rules binding on residents. Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on January 15, 2019 © Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2019
