# Exposed: Airbnb lobbying to stop laws on lets (The Ferret, 18 Jan 2019)

* **Exposed: Airbnb lobbying to stop laws on lets**
* By Ally Tibbitt. Published in the Ferret on 18 January 2019
* [https://theferret.scot/airbnb-lobbying-law-lets](https://theferret.scot/airbnb-lobbying-law-lets/)
* **Summary**:
  * The [online lodging firm](https://www.airbnb.co.uk/) claims to add almost £1.5 million a day to the Scottish economy. But critics say [the rapid growth in short-term letting](https://theferret.scot/airbnb-growth-tourism-scotland/) is exacerbating a housing crisis, causing rising levels of anti-social behaviour and enabling some landlords to evade tax.
  * **As MSPs at Holyrood consider a** [**new planning bill**](https://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/Bills/106768.aspx) **that could give councils more powers to regulate landlords using Airbnb, documents from the Scottish Government show the firm has had extensive contacts with senior government ministers and civil servants**.
  * The Scottish Parliament’s [lobbying register](https://www.lobbying.scot/) also shows that a public relations firm hired by Airbnb, [Halogen](https://www.halogencom.com/), has met 28 times since March 2018 with MSPs \[Members of the Scottish Parliament], ministers and special advisers to discuss the company’s policy positions or the wider short-term letting sector.
* **Keywords**: Scotland, Scottish Parliament, MSPs, United Kingdom, UK, lobbying, Airbnb, Halogen, tourism, tourist apartments
