Legislation that would give Chicago aldermen more control over where short-term rental companies like Airbnb and Vrbo can operate in the city stalled Wednesday after pushback from the business community.
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An ordinance introduced by 41st Ward Alderman Anthony Napolitano would have allowed members of the Chicago City Council to ban short-term rentals in particular precincts that could only be overturned if the company or local residents gathered the signatures of 15% of precinct voters.
The measure would have significantly altered the current process, which requires signatures from at least 25% of registered precinct voters before an alderman can even introduce an ordinance banning rentals.
But a score of Chicago business groups sent letters to council members, arguing the ordinance was too broad and would violate property owners' rights to rent out their homes.
Napolitano asked to delay consideration of the legislation Wednesday in the face of an uncertain vote, according to Crain's Chicago Business.
“I'm not trying to hurt the industry, but we have to be able to advocate for our wards,” Napolitano said, according to the outlet. “I'll hold it, but you've got to sit down with me and talk to me about it and see what we can change.”
The ordinance was intended to remove the onus and legwork of banning STRs from local residents, shifting responsibility to lawmakers.
Opponents, like Airbnb, countered that the rentals boost revenue to small retail and restaurants. Airbnb called the proposed legislation “a violation of Chicagoans’ property rights, which would punish responsible homeowners and local businesses who rely on the income from travel on short-term rentals.”
STRs are a frequent target of nuisance complaints about noise and bad behavior. Yet the rentals have exploded in popularity over the past 20 years.
The global STR market has grown 20-fold since 2011, skyrocketing from roughly 1 million listings to 20.3 million in 2023. The U.S. market nearly doubled in just the past six years, with the number of available STR listings jumping from 1 million in 2018 to 1.7 million last year, according to industry tracker AirDNA.
Between Airbnb and Vrbo, Chicago has about 12,000 available listings, according to AirDNA. Its host earned $191M in 2024.
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