Thread by @jtemperton

Airbnb property moguls are furious that their businesses are collapsing in the wake of coronavirus.

In the UK, it's creating a sudden surge in bargain-basement long-term rentals. New listings on Rightmove were up 78% in Bath last week. In London, up 45%

wired.co.uk/article/airbnb…

For the short-term rental industry, the collapse of Airbnb is a disaster. Many people don't own the properties they list on Airbnb, they rent them. They still have to pay those rents to landlords. But now they have no tenants

Alex Milburn, who has a number of properties listed on Airbnb and also featured in WIRED’s recent investigation into rogue Airbnb hosts, claims to have already lost £35,000 due to cancelled bookings

Even with a fairly modest Airbnb empire of, say, 30 listings, a property manager could soon find themselves owing hundreds of thousands of pounds in unpaid rent with little to no income – and potentially little in the way of cash reserves – to pay it

One listing near London Bridge (left) appears to be an apartment previously listed on Airbnb by a company called CB Platinum (right), whose property empire was at the centre of a recent WIRED investigation into rogue Airbnb hosts

James Foice, chief exec of Asap, the trade body that represents legitimate and accredited short-term rental businesses, is hoping the crisis can drives rogue operators out of town. "I hope that it does sort the wheat from the chaff," he told me

Coronavirus has exposed the huge impact Airbnb is having on the housing market.

Here at the top year-on-year increases in new rental listings on Rightmove for w/c March 16

Bath +78%
Edinburgh +62%
Brighton +55%
Central London +45%
York +41%
Chester +35%

wired.co.uk/article/airbnb…