BnbNotifier: Housing in South Africa 🌍

After I posted my promo video for BNBNotifier, two friends informed me about recent developments in the housing space in South Africa. Housing in South Africa is a complex topic and serious issue for many people, so it's important to share opinions and experiences with caution and compassion.

Just two days before I posted my video, a Capetonian started a petition urging the City of Cape Town (CoCT) to reassess its partnership with Airbnb. This partnership encourages digital nomads on the Digital Nomad visa to secure long-term accommodation through Airbnb and offers co-working hubs, while also collaborating with local businesses to provide tailored experiences for remote workers. The petition also calls on the CoCT to focus on more pressing issues, such as homelessness and the lack of affordable housing.

I DM'd and chatted with Ndifuna Ukwazi, a social justice organization, about affordable housing. I learned that affordable living isn't just about the rent and utilities you pay, but also about your location. Proximity to public transport, shops, and other amenities is a crucial factor in affordability. I asked what is considered an afforable percentage of ones monthly income to spend on rent. They said one third is a widely agreed-upon standard. They also provided valuable insights into the impact of Airbnb on local housing. For instance, in Berlin, research shows that Airbnb listings reduce the supply of long-term rentals and increase rent prices, making it difficult for locals to find accommodation. Additionally, I discovered that some companies in Cape Town own as many as 150 buildings, which they can list on Airbnb. Ndifuna Ukwazi suggests that stricter regulations are necessary.

One of their researches says: "The issue is not with individual owners who rent out a spare room or established B&Bs who now use Airbnb's platform, but rather with the fact that the majority of Airbnbs are owned by people with several listings on the platform - some individuals and companies have more than 150 listings! The individuals and companies are effectively acting as unregulated hotels in order to avoid the taxes and systems in place to protect both hotel guests and staff. A related issue is that developers in the central city are now largely building tiny apartments targeted at short-term rentals. These apartments are great for Airbnb but have no chance of fitting local households at any point. So not only is Airbnb distorting our local housing market and pricing out local families, but it is also reshaping our very built environment in a way that will exclude larger and larger numbers of people. The City needs to properly balance the genuine benefits provided by tourism with the costs of damaging platforms like Airbnb if it wants to avoid the issues which have been so clearly documented and evidenced all around the world."

My friend and I noted something interesting. We think that if Airbnb were to shut down, the businesses that currently purchase as many as 150 properties to turn into rental accommodation would likely switch to platforms like Booking.com, Google, or other competitors to rent their properties. This is very hypothetical though... Towards the end of my discussion with Ndifuna Ukwazi, I mentioned this, and they responded by sharing a link to Inside Airbnb, a website that highlights Airbnb properties in Cape Town. It shows whether the listing is a full home or a room and how many properties each host owns. I found this quite eye-opening.

Landing page for Inside Airbnb which shows all the Airbnb listings in Cape Town.

~60% of Airbnb hosts have more than 1 listings.

Nox, Perch and Soughted are the top 3 businesses with the most listings.