Hawaii to limit vacation rentals in response to tight housing market

Last year’s deadly Maui wildfire revealed the extent of short-term rentals and their contribution to the state’s housing shortage

Hawaii lawmakers have voted to put limits on short-term rentals such as Airbnbs. On Friday, the governor, Josh Green, signed a bill that would give counties the power to regulate short-term rentals and even phase them out to become long-term housing for local residents.

The move on short-term rentals was one of several legislative decisions to come out of Friday’s meeting of the state legislature. It also appropriated $1b to go toward the ongoing recovery from the Lahaina fire on 8 August, including more than $120m in rental assistance for people who are ineligible for aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) and $500m for emergency housing for residents who remain displaced, according to ABC News.