December 2021
December 2021 brought a registration bill to New York City and Vacasa to the stock market. The City Council passed Int. 2309-A on 9 December, a bill to make hosts register and booking services verify them. Vacasa began trading on the Nasdaq on 7 December after a blank-check merger and closed its first day at $9.84. Lisbon's council backed a suspension of new registrations, Paris voted to tighten its rules on tourist rentals in commercial space, and a Vienna court ratified a ban on Airbnb listings in municipal housing.
A look back, written in October 2026 from sources published in December 2021. Stay Gazette opened in July 2026.
The Money · 7 December 2021Vacasa Starts Trading on Nasdaq and Falls 10.4 Percent on Its First DayThe Portland vacation rental manager reached the stock market through a blank-check merger that brought in over $340 million in gross proceeds, less than the up to $485 million it had described in the summer. Its shares closed the first day at $9.84.By Dana Whitfield · Filed 11 October 2026 · 7 min read
Crackdown · 9 December 2021New York City Council Passes a Short-Term Rental Registration BillThe Council approved a bill to set up a city registry for short-term rentals and to make booking services verify a listing before taking a fee. Airbnb said the bill's intent was to hurt middle-class families in the outer boroughs.By Marcus Dane · Filed 11 October 2026 · 7 min read
Pictures on this page. 1. Photo: Downtown Portland from the north 2013 by Steve Morgan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (resized). 2. Photo: NYC Upper East Side aerial view by Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (resized).
What else was reported in December 2021
- 2 December 2021The Higher Regional Court of Vienna ratified the ban on Airbnb listings in the city's municipal housing, ShortTermRentalz reported on 2 December 2021, making legally binding a ruling the City of Vienna had won against Airbnb in May. ShortTermRentalz
- 2 December 2021Scotland's councils would have to have a licensing system for short-term lets in place by October 2022 under legislation laid before the Scottish Parliament, Scottish Licensed Trade News reported on 2 December 2021. Existing operators would have to apply for a license by 1 April 2023, and all short-term lets were to be licensed by 1 July 2024. Scottish Licensed Trade News
- 15 December 2021Lisbon's city council voted on 15 December 2021 to put to the Municipal Assembly a six-month suspension of new short-term rental registrations, renewable for the same period, in zones and parishes where such rentals were 2.5% or more of permanent homes, the Lusa news agency reported in a dispatch carried by ECO. The PSD and the CDS-PP voted against. ECO (with the Lusa news agency)
- 15 December 2021AvantStay, a West Hollywood-based company that rents out high-end vacation homes, raised $160 million in a Series B round co-led by Tarsadia Investments and 3L Capital, dot.LA reported on 15 December 2021. Its chief executive said in an interview that going public was an option. dot.LA
- 16 December 2021The Paris city council voted to tighten the rules on turning commercial space into tourist rentals, Reuters reported on 16 December 2021. The city said it had lost 59,000 square meters of commercial space to short-term stays in six years, and Airbnb said it did not expect a noticeable impact on its activity in Paris. Reuters (carried by Euronews)
- 27 December 2021Airbnb said guests without a history of positive reviews would be barred from booking one-night New Year's Eve stays in entire homes in the United States, Canada, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, France, Spain and the United Kingdom, FOX Business reported on 27 December 2021. FOX Business (carried by FOX 7 Austin)