Checking in on Nashville’s short term rental industry and regulations

Can you remember the time before Airbnbs and VRBOs and all the other myriad short-term rentals exploded in Nashville?

As of 2015, there were a couple thousand of these units here, offering lodging alternatives to hotel rooms and largely functioning without rules or taxation. Flash forward, and Nashville has been through many regulatory twists and turns (and lawsuits) and finds itself with nearly 7,000 officially permitted short-term rentals. And since 2017, the city has fielded more than 8,000 complaints.

So how exactly did we get here? And where do we stand on these rentals? We’ll hear from Airbnb operators, a key Metro Council policymaker, the guy in charge of enforcing all the rules and neighborhood preservationists who remain concerned about these rentals. If you’re new to the topic, or just wanting a refresher, you can find a curated set of background reading and helpful links at the bottom of this post.

To start today’s show, WPLN news editor LaTonya Turner will break down what two Supreme Court decisions will mean for this university town: the overturning of affirmative action, and denial of Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan.

Guests:

• Beth Cummings, Airbnb operator in the Hillsboro West End neighborhood
• Council Member Burkley Allen, sponsor of Metro’s initial short-term rental rules
• Bonell McBroom, Metro Codes STRP enforcement chief
• Brenda Morrow, Edgehill neighborhood leader
• Barb Culligan, Airbnb operator and ambassador and president of the Nashville Area Short Term Rental Association
• Logan Key, neighborhood preservation advocate in Lockeland Springs

This episode was produced by Tony Gonzalez. 

Related Reading:

• Metro Nashville: Guide to short-term rental properties
• Map and data: Short-term rental permits
• hubNashville: How to file a short-term rental complaint
• 2015: Nashville’s new Airbnb regulations don’t seem to be hurting its popularity
• 2016: STRPs boost Nashville tourism revenues — but not like some predicted
• 2016: New map shows you probably live near one of Nashville’s 1,880 short-term rentals
• 2018: Neighborhood defenders sound alarm against Nashville’s reworked short-term rental proposal
• 2019: Still tinkering, Metro Council further restricts short-term rentals
• 2020: Building inspectors are stretched thin

data.Nashville.gov

Nashville has nearly 7,000 officially permitted short-term rental properties as of June 2023.