Airbnb Limits Some New Reservations in New York City as Short-term Rental Regulations Go Into Effect

Home-sharing giant Airbnb said it has had to stop accepting some reservations in New York City as new regulations on short-term rentals went into effect Tuesday that will mean big changes for travelers hoping to avoid the high cost of a Big Apple hotel.

The new rules are intended to effectively end a free-for-all in which city landlords and residents have been renting out their apartments by the week or the night to tourists or others in town for short stays.

Under the new system, rentals shorter than 30 days are only allowed if hosts register with the city. Hosts must commit to being physically present in the home for the duration of the rental, sharing living quarters with their guest. More than two guests at a time are not allowed, either, meaning families are effectively barred.

Platforms such as Airbnb, VRBO and others are not allowed to process rentals for unregistered hosts - and as of early this week, few had successfully registered. The city says it has approved just under 300 of the more than 3,800 applications received.

Officials and housing advocates who had pushed for the restrictions said they were necessary to stop apartments from becoming de facto hotels.

"In New York City, residential apartments should be for residential use," said Murray Cox of Inside Airbnb, a housing advocacy group that collects data about the company's presence in cities around the world.