West Hollywood’s efforts to curtail illegal short-term rentals might actually be working.
A new report from WeHo by the Numbers shows that the number of listings between May 2017 and October 2018 shrank 4 percent, thanks in part to an increasing number of citations and code compliance cases, WeHoville reported.
West Hollywood has been actively fighting short-term rentals on the basis that they contribute to the city’s growing affordability issues.
In the last three years, the City of West Hollywood levied 365 code compliance cases, at least 365 warning letters, 75 citations and over $250,000 in fines.
The data, which bases its information from independent website Inside Airbnb, reveals that there were approximately 809 short-term rental listings in West Hollywood on one October day. That’s down from a high of 920 in April, but up from 604 in May 2015.
The decline, though small, shows a stark contrast to the rest of the county, where enforcement efforts haven’t been as stringent.
In neighboring communities, the number of Airbnb listings largely grew across the board. In Hollywood, for example, there were 41 percent more listings. The growth rate was the highest in the L.A. neighborhood north of West Hollywood, where listings grew 57 percent.
The only other city to have experienced a decline was Santa Monica, where strict laws and lawsuits have also worked to control the phenomenon. The drop there was 29 percent. [Wehoville] – Natalie Hoberman