The Professionalization of Tel Aviv Landlords: Airbnb in the Matrix of Gentrification and Colonization

Abstract

Ten years since the nationwide J14 housing protests against Israel’s increasing cost of living, affordable housing remains just as scarce, even prompting some city-dwellers to seek affordable housing in West Bank settlements – a military-occupied Palestinian Territory. Given that Israel is often called the Start-Up Nation, Airbnb’s rise in Tel Aviv-Yaffo and West Bank settlements was exceptional. By 2015, over 50% of the city’s households live in rental units, the highest percentage of all the largest cities in the country and the percentage of apartments turned into Airbnb listings is five times greater in Tel Aviv-Yaffo than in New York City. Airbnb has accelerated the existing historic trends in Tel Aviv-Yaffo by introducing new capital flows via the sharing platforms. Due to the lack of regulations, Airbnb proffesional landlords (multi-listing hosts) in Tel Aviv-Yaffo make higher earnings on average by 40% to 130% compared to single-listing hosts that are using Airbnb to supplement their income. Using a post-colonial theoretical framework, this paper demonstrates how Airbnb has exacerbated the housing crisis by converting residential units into illegal hotels, displaced marginalized Jews in south Tel Aviv-Yaffo, and incentivized landlords to become proffesional Airbnb hosts.