Airbnb is to provide US homeowners and hosts with a proof of income statement, which documents earnings through the site, to aid mortgage affordability.
America’s largest mortgage lender, Quicken Loans, is among the providers taking part in the initiative.
Nathan Blecharczyk, Airbnb co-founder and chief strategy officer, said: “We’ve been able to help many reimagine the home as an asset, a destination, and a contributor to the community.
“Today, some of the nation’s largest financial institutions understand that Airbnb is an economic empowerment tool that can generate important income for families, and they are working to recognise this.”
Jay Farner, Quicken Loans chief exexcutive, added: “Airbnb and Quicken Loans are firmly aligned to drive innovation in the real estate industry to dramatically improve and simplify client experience, as well as saving homeowners time and money.”
As in the US, Airbnb has proved popular among UK homeowners hoping to make money by letting out rooms or entire properties, typically on a short-term basis.
Homeowners are unlikely to have income counted towards affordability and in some cases, using the site could breach mortgage or insurance terms.
David Hollingworth, associate director at brokerLondon & Country, said: “There’s different ways that Airbnb tends to be used, either as a casual let of a single room, occasional letting of the whole main residence or of a property more specifically devoted to use as a buy-to-let or holiday let.
“Each of these can represent issues to a lender.
“Many lenders will be forgiving when it comes to a lodger style use but letting an entire property would typically breach the terms of the mortgage, which prohibits letting without consent.
“Consent to let is not practicable when it comes to an occasional use of the property for what may only amount to a night or three and to different tenants each time.
“Buy-to-let lenders also shy away from Airbnb given that they will typically require an AST to be in place.
“However, we are starting to see some lenders make allowance for the way that homeowners want to use their property and some like Metro Bank and Market Harborough will now accept a degree of Airbnb use.”
