From the article: ... They are already banned in most places in Oahu, other than Waikiki. People try to rent out rooms illegally, though. Meanwhile: Half of rental units reserved for Maui fire...
From the article:
State House Bill 1838 and Senate Bill 2919 have prompted a fierce debate about the future of vacation rentals like Airbnb and Vrbo homes.
Residents have long complained about the impact of tourism and luxury home and resort development on housing accessibility, as well as the lack of affordable housing and rentals for residents.
The Maui wildfires in August 2023 exacerbated the crisis, burning thousands of structures, including many affordable housing units.
Hawaii residents have some of the highest housing costs in the nation -- 2.5 times higher than the national average -- according to the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization.
...
In Lahaina, 25% of the region's housing units are listed as short-term rentals, according to the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization. To the south of Lahaina, that percentage jumps to 41.8%. To the north, it jumps to 87%.
The state's housing crisis is one of the reasons supporters say the Native Hawaiian population on Hawaii has declined: the 2020 U.S. Census found that more than half of all Hawaiians live outside of the state.
They are already banned in most places in Oahu, other than Waikiki. People try to rent out rooms illegally, though.
The federal program trying to find longer-term housing for Maui fire victims is facing criticism for miscommunication and wasted taxpayer dollars.
About half of the rental units being reserved for Maui fire victims — more than 600 mostly former vacation rentals — are still vacant even as taxpayers fork over above-market rent for them.
...
The FEMA coordinator for Maui, Curtis Brown, said that of the 1,361 units reserved by FEMA for survivors “we are paying for about 600-700 units.” Brown said the process takes at best a month for background checks and matching survivors to a unit, but is often longer.
“It could take up to two months,” Brown said. “But we still committed to that property. So we still have to pay that monthly fee to that property.”
...
Brown confirmed that survivors are supposed to be given up to four chances to reject rental offers and Nahale said he hoped that policy would be applied to him.
Business people say that some of these problems could have been avoided if FEMA hired local property managers for the rental program because of their familiarity with the market, the properties and the people who they are trying to help.
This is a double edged sword for a lot of locals. Almost the entire economy is based on tourism and AirBnb was one of the ways the average person could benefit from making money as the job...
This is a double edged sword for a lot of locals. Almost the entire economy is based on tourism and AirBnb was one of the ways the average person could benefit from making money as the job situation isn't great. But Hawaiians definitely need places to live and the only 'affordable' places left were on the Big Island and even those aren't very affordable anymore. It was inevitable that AirBnb's would be restricted eventually, this just sped up the process.
The part about wasting money on rentals that are still empty was also very predictable. NOTHING happens quickly in Hawaii. Nothing*. Its going to take them years to get it all sorted out so a few months of empty housing is just the warmup.
(*We've been waiting for a government cheque from Hawaii for six years now. Im sure its in the mail /s)
From the article:
...
They are already banned in most places in Oahu, other than Waikiki. People try to rent out rooms illegally, though.
Meanwhile:
Half of rental units reserved for Maui fire victims (and paid by taxpayers) are sitting vacant
...
...
This is a double edged sword for a lot of locals. Almost the entire economy is based on tourism and AirBnb was one of the ways the average person could benefit from making money as the job situation isn't great. But Hawaiians definitely need places to live and the only 'affordable' places left were on the Big Island and even those aren't very affordable anymore. It was inevitable that AirBnb's would be restricted eventually, this just sped up the process.
The part about wasting money on rentals that are still empty was also very predictable. NOTHING happens quickly in Hawaii. Nothing*. Its going to take them years to get it all sorted out so a few months of empty housing is just the warmup.
(*We've been waiting for a government cheque from Hawaii for six years now. Im sure its in the mail /s)