A Call for Balanced Short-Term Rental Regulation to Protect Our Communities

Short-term rental (STR) platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo are rapidly transforming our housing market. In cities across Massachusetts, entire apartment buildings or multi-family homes are being converted into short-term rentals, removing them from the long-term rental supply.

Here's Where Things Stand:

1. In some neighborhoods, STR listings now outnumber available rental units.

2. Working families, seniors, and low-income renters are being pushed out.

3. Emergency shelters and transitional housing are completely overwhelmed.

This problem fuels displacement and homelessness, for both the unsheltered and the housing insecure. Exacerbating the already critical housing shortage, STRs reduce the available long-term housing stock, driving up rents and home prices across entire neighborhoods. Because of rising rents, more tenants are being displaced via eviction, and even more are facing harassment from landlords.

Short-term rentals (STRs) break the "housing ladder" by disrupting the natural progression through which individuals and families move from entry-level rentals to more stable, long-term housing. In a healthy housing ecosystem, older or smaller units typically become more affordable over time, serving as stepping stones for low-income renters, young adults, and others beginning their housing journey.

When these units are converted into lucrative STRs, they are permanently removed from the long-term market. This not only eliminates crucial low-cost options at the base of the housing ladder but also blocks upward mobility, leaving renters stuck in overcrowded, unstable, or unaffordable conditions. As a result, the housing ladder becomes fractured, with fewer rungs available and growing gaps between them, pushing more people into housing precarity or homelessness.

When homes are treated as hotel rooms, our communities become unstable, especially for our most vulnerable neighbors.

What Can Be Done?

Balanced, thoughtful ordinances and other policy changes can help mitigate yet another stress on our most vulnerable neighbors. This means policies that:

• Limit commercial operators (e.g., investors running multiple STRs)

• Requires host registration, inspections, and taxes

• Caps STR nights per year to prioritize residential use

• Creates strong enforcement mechanisms and transparency

• Dedicates a portion of STR revenue to affordable housing and homelessness response

Malden can help realize this vision, creating a system where:

• Residents can earn supplemental income from STRs without displacing their neighbors

• Visitors support local businesses, not contribute to gentrification

• Public policy aligns with the value of housing as a human right

Malden's City Council should consider pausing all new commercial STR licenses until updated regulations are adopted, pass strong STR reform ordinances that protect housing access and affordability, and redirect STR revenue to housing stability initiatives.