“Commercial Airbnb Hosts Add Strain on Single Mothers Across D.C.”

Yukia Hugee, lives in North East and is part of the It’s Time DC coalition.

PoP-Ed. posts may be written about anything related to the District and submitted via email to princeofpetworth(at)gmail please include PoP-Ed. in the subject line.

Photo by PoPville flickr user DCbmyers

Ed. Note: You can read “The DC Council will vote Tuesday on legislation that would place severe restrictions on short-term rentals in DC.” posted yesterday here.

Commercial Airbnb Hosts Add Strain on Single Mothers Across D.C.
By: Yukia Hugee, single mom and Northeast D.C. resident

Safety is a main concern for any mother. This concern is only heightened for a single mother, like myself, that lives in a hustling and bustling city like D.C. and is safety is always one of the main concerns I have for my young family and I. Consequently, knowing the members of my community that surround me, work near my home, and protect my neighborhood is very important to me as I raise my children in our vibrant city.

That is why I am so disheartened to see my community unwrapped by commercial operators running illegal hotels that are creating a revolving door of strangers who don’t have an attachment to our community.

That isn’t creating a safer neighborhood for me or my family – it’s breaking it down.

To be perfectly clear, I fully support the concept of true home sharing. Creating opportunities for individuals that would like to rent out their homes to generate extra income for their families. This is not what these commercial operators are doing. These commercial operators, including big business and hedge funds, are intruding upon communities by buying entire areas of our community to run illegal hotels on the Airbnb platform. This money isn’t going to the new couple that moved down the street, or the community teachers that are enriching my childrens’ lives. It’s going straight into greedy executives’ pockets, while simultaneously devaluing our community. Their greed leads to increased rent prices, monthly insurance, and taxes that discourages our community’s growth.

As I eluded to before, the Airbnb concept and true home sharing is a good one. It allows families to earn additional income by renting rooms in their homes. However, commercial operators buying up affordable housing across the city has caused home and rent prices in the district to skyrocket putting great strain on hardworking families throughout D.C. that must make tough decisions each month between covering housing costs and providing for their families. In fact, the median rent in Airbnb’s top 20 D.C. neighborhoods grew by 15 percent in 2016.

This community destruction will only intensify if the Short-Term Rental Regulation and Affordable Housing Protection Act of 2017 is not passed by DC City Council. It is my hope that our representation in City Hall will stand up for those of us working multiple jobs just to pay our rent by addressing the many illegal hotels plaguing our neighborhoods and driving up rent costs. This would allow for true home sharing and help to strengthen our communities, patching up the recent damage that has been done by these commercial operators.

As a single mother, I am one of the demographics suffering the most from these consequences by having less safe and affordable housing options for my family. It is time for our City Council members to address this home sharing system abuse and pass commonsense legislation to address this problem hurting their constituents, lifelong D.C. residents, and single mothers.

Sincerely,

Yukia Hugee”