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What do you look for when you book an Airbnb?
Most people may want answers to questions like, “Do you have Wi-Fi and cable?” And, “How big is your kitchen?” Or, “How far are you from the subway station?” But a new study suggests they should also ask, “Do you have a carbon monoxide alarm, smoke alarm and first-aid kit?” It’s not the first thing people might think of asking when booking a vacation rental. Airbnb can be a cheaper alternative to a hotel room in many cases, but a new study says homes often lack the fire safety standards found in most hotels.
The percentage of fire extinguishers at Airbnb rentals ranged from 29% in New York City to over 70% in Austin, Texas.
Many of Airbnb’s 4 million short-term rentals worldwide are falling short on fire safety, a study published this week in the journal Injury Prevention found. Less than half of the listings on the lodging platform have fire extinguishers or first-aid kits, and just 56% have carbon monoxide alarms. The percentage of Airbnb rentals with fire extinguishers ranged from 29% in New York City to more than 70% in Austin, Texas. Portland, Ore. was the only city in the sample to have first-aid kits in more than half of Airbnb venues.
80% of Airbnb rentals in the study had smoke detectors — but all hotels do
Across all 16 cities in the sample, the majority of Airbnb rentals had smoke detectors (80%). That’s reassuring, the researchers said, but they added that “this is substantially lower than the universal requirement for hotels,” which are legally required to comply with national fire safety regulations. The researchers also noted that certain hosts may also be in condominiums or apartment buildings that have their own safety features that are not included in the Airbnb listing.
Airbnb does not require carbon monoxide detectors, but provides free devices to any host who asks for one.
Still, some Airbnb travelers said this study should raise awareness about fire safety and encourage renters to ask more questions about safety rather than, say, whether the apartment is pet-friendly or has a king- or queen-sized bed. “This is disturbing, and problematic,” Christopher Elliott, a consumer travel advocate, founder the group Elliott Consumer Advocacy and an Airbnb user, told MarketWatch. “Add this to the long list of concerns about Airbnb.”
The researchers—who state they have no competing interests—used data from InsideAirbnb.com for 120,691 listings in 16 cities from Austin, Texas to Washington, D.C., between October 2015 and December 2016. Airbnb has approximately 660,000 listings in the U.S. Most Airbnb hosts live in private homes to which national fire safety requirements don’t usually apply and the study recommends that Airbnb and other similar sites consider requiring safety regulations for hosts.
InsideAirbnb is a platform run by an independent “data activist” Murray Cox, who has been a longtime critic of Airbnb and describes himself as “an independent digital storyteller, community activist and technologist.” InsideAirbnb uses publicly available information about Airbnb and maintains that the online house rental service competes with the residential housing market. Cox says his site is not associated with or endorsed by Airbnb or its competitors.
Airbnb doesn’t require carbon monoxide detectors, but will give them for free
There are an estimated 3,900 hotel and motel fires each year, according to the U.S. Fire Administration, including one in every 13 motels or hotels. Only 14 states require carbon monoxide alarms in hotels by statute. Airbnb does not require carbon monoxide detectors in its dwellings but provides free devices to any host who asks for one.
Airbnb is not liable for injuries or deaths that happen in its properties, according to the terms of service agreement that guests sign before check-in. Nick Shapiro, global head of trust and risk management at Airbnb, said the company plans to contact the authors of the study and work with them to increase awareness of safety measures in homes. Airbnb runs safety workshops with local fire and emergency services to educate hosts on basic safety measures.
Airbnb is not liable for injuries or deaths that happen in its properties, according to its terms of service agreement.
“At Airbnb, safety is our priority,” Shapiro told MarketWatch. “All hosts must certify that they follow all local laws and regulations. We run home safety workshops with local fire and EMS services all over the world, making sure our hosts have access to the best information in order to keep their guests, their homes and themselves safe. Every listing on Airbnb clearly states the specific safety amenities it has, including smoke and CO detectors, fire extinguishers and first-aid kits.”
New York officials have previously raised concerns about fire safety with Airbnb: A 2014 report from now-former New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman on Airbnb listings and illegal hotels in New York City showed Airbnb put visitors “at a significantly increased risk of injury or death” compared to hotels, which are held to stricter safety standards and must have portable fire extinguishers, automatic sprinklers, and posted emergency guidelines.
Those standards decreased fire-related fatalities in New York City hotels by more than 80% from 1976 to 2013, the New York City fire department said in the report. “Visitors who stay in transient residential occupancies are not familiar with the layout of the building, including the exit stairwells,” Thomas Jensen, chief of fire safety for the FDNY said in an affidavit in Schneiderman’s report. They are likely to find it more difficult to evacuate the building quickly, he added.
As the sharing economy transforms the lodging industry, the responsibility to check on safety falls on the consumer.
Experts say it’s up to consumers to ask about safety before booking a room or a home
As the sharing economy transforms the lodging industry, the responsibility to check on safety may fall on the consumer, said Deanna Ting, hotels and hospitality editor at travel site Skift. She suggested Airbnb renters ask hosts before checking in about carbon monoxide detectors and fire extinguishers on the premises. User can search for locations that have smoke detectors under “more filters,” but they can’t search for carbon monoxide detectors or fire extinguishers.
“Staying in a home share is still different from staying in a hotel, so you have to make those safety considerations when you are planning,” Ting said. “It’s on consumers to find out as much information as they can and open up a line of communication with the host, being really specific about safety-related questions you have.”
Airbnb has been controversial in some cities, and some housing advocates have blamed the service for pushing up rents in neighborhoods where landlords can make more money renting to overnight guests than to long-term tenants. A recent report by the New York City comptroller’s office drew that conclusion, but the data company whose numbers were used to create the analysis later called the comptroller’s findings “flawed.”