Lease restrictions often prevent people from renting out their apartment on Airbnb. Many apartment owners prohibit subletting of any kind. (Note that this may still allow you to do home exchanges legally since no money changes hands.) Airbnb is working to convince apartment owners that Airbnb is good for them. And in fact it is, when Airbnb shares the profits with them.
Monetary gain has convinced a number of large apartment building owners to allow their tenants to participate in Airbnb through their Friendly Buildings Program. And in December Niido, a company run by a Miami-based development group, received a $200 billion equity investment to fund their new Niido Powered by Airbnb apartments program.
The apartments will be large buildings with communal spaces. Leaseholders will live there year round but will be allowed to Airbnb their flat up to 180 days per year. And the buildings will be set up with keyless entry and other tools to make rental management easier, along with a concierge to manage the guests. In exchange the owners take 25% of the rental profits.
This expansion makes sense for Airbnb, and it doesn’t seem like a negative for people renting through the website. It’s still a peer-to-peer rental in most respects. And this type of building is likely to offer a higher end experience for travelers. Overall I’d expect deals like this one with Niido will expand the more expensive options on Airbnb.