Airbnb program lets tenants rent out their apartments part time

In many apartment buildings, tenants with annual leases cannot sublease their space nor list it on short-term rental platforms like Airbnb.

What's happening: A new program called Airbnb-friendly apartments bucks that norm by encouraging renters to lease out their space part time.

• The platform launched last November and recently became active in Miami.

Why it matters: Tenants can potentially earn income — or at least recoup their costs — when not using their apartments.

• In Miami, one of the country's least affordable housing markets, tenants needing to sign annual leases for homes may find it more attractive to be in a building that allows hosting over one that doesn't.
• Median rent here for a zero- to two-bedroom home was $2,455 in July, per Realtor.com.

How it works: Jesse Stein, Airbnb's global head of real estate, explained during a Skift conference in June that the company partners with major firms that own apartment buildings, such as Equity Residential and Greystar.

• On Airbnb's website and platforms, people can see participating buildings, the monthly rent price for annual leases and how much tenants could potentially earn by hosting.
• Tenants sign leases directly with the building owners.

What they're saying: At the conference, Stein suggested the program has benefits for both yearlong tenants and landlords.

• He said tenants using the service include a woman who's able to go stay with relatives whenever she gets a booking and a man in the military who may be deployed.
• The platform is attractive to landlords because it helps market their buildings at no cost to them, Stein said.

• The platform lets landlords see which units are being put on Airbnb, which helps ensure the hosts are complying with building rules and local laws.
• Landlords can take a share of the Airbnb revenue up to 25%, "depending on the partner and how much activity they provide to the host."

Zoom in: So far, one building in Miami is part of the program: Sentral Wynwood.

• 175 units in the building are eligible for Airbnb hosting.
• Starting monthly rent there is $2,785 for a one-bedroom apartment, which residents could potentially earn up to $667 per week for, per the website.

Zoom out: Nationwide, over 250 buildings in 37 markets are part of the program.

• The typical host earned $4,500 in 2022, an Airbnb spokesperson tells Axios.