Paris joins Marseille in banning key boxes in bid to stop illegal tourist lets
‘Public space cannot be privatised,’ says the mayor of Paris Centre, in a new rental crackdown
The boxes are intended to make it easier for Airbnb hosts to hand over keys to guests
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The city of Paris has joined Marseille in banning keyboxes from being attached to public street furniture such as gates and lampposts, in a bid to help combat the illegal letting of short-term rentals.
Keyboxes are usually small boxes that are opened with a code or key, and attached somewhere outside a property, either to an external wall or door, or hanging from somewhere on the street.
They are often used by people who rent short-term holiday lets - such as on Airbnb - to allow guests to access a property at any time, without needing to meet anyone in person to let them in.
However in large quantities the keyboxes can be unsightly, disrupt the running of public infrastructure (such as a lamp post repair), and are - Paris authorities say - helping to fuel the illegal letting of short-term rentals by landlords who do not have the correct city permits.
15-day notice
In a new decree published on January 24, Paris City Council is asking owners of key boxes to remove them within 15 days.
“Illegal letting of furnished tourist accommodation in Paris will soon be a thing of the past,” said Jacques Baudrier, deputy mayor of Paris in charge of housing and the ecological transition of buildings, on Wednesday, January 29, to the press (reports BFMTV).
Police officers are now authorised to stick labels on keyboxes in the streets to advise owners of the deadline to remove them. The labels show the date, and the removal deadline. Police officers and private individuals can also report these boxes on the city's ‘DansMaRue’ app.
After this deadline has passed, the object will be considered “abandoned” and “automatically removed from the street furniture by the cutting [with a bolt cutter] of the chain or link”, the municipal order states.
‘Part of a battle on illegal lets’
Mr Baudrier said that the measure is “part of a battle to win back the 25,000 illegally furnished tourist accommodation units” in the capital. “Key boxes are an extremely clear signal [of the presence of these lettings],” he said.
For its part, Airbnb states that it has “no tolerance for the illegal practice of affixing key boxes in public spaces”, and says that it has clear rules on this ban. “The platform regularly reminds the host community of the applicable rules,” it said.
Read also: South of France tourist town to strictly limit short-term lets
Read more: MPs propose further crackdown on short-term rentals on France
Mayor of Paris Centre, Ariel Weil, said that the move in Paris would “cut the evil at the root, to prevent it from developing as it has in other cities”, referring in particular to Marseille, which has already implemented its own ban as a result of their prolific spread.
“Public space cannot be privatised,” said Mr Weil.
Read more: Key safes targeted in latest anti-Airbnb measure in Marseille
Mr Baudrier said that of the city’s “95,000 furnished tourist accommodation addresses…25,000 are rented out by illegal multiple owners”. This causes a rise in rents overall, and contributes to the lack of affordable housing for city residents, he said.
It comes after Paris introduced tougher rules for short-term rentals (even legal ones) from January 1 this year. The new measures include lowering the limit for letting a main residence from 120 to 90 days per year, and an increase in penalties for landlords who do not comply.
