Don't lose sleep over Paris 'crackdown'

Kitchen of the apartment Paris apartment we're staying in this September. It's near the Canal Saint-Martin and Place de la République.

The blogs have been buzzing after a New York Times article seemed to imply a looming crackdown on unauthorized apartment rentals in Paris. Seems the city administration feels that wealthy tourists are crowding out average locals, who find it increasingly difficult to afford a place to call home. That may or may not be true, but it appears from the responses that the paper of record got this one quite wrong, or at least went hard at a topic that is far from settled.

Both apartment owners and other journalists weighed in, pointing out that this supposed crackdown is first, old news and second, the position of a few local officials, not the city. Apparently the topic has been simmering for some time and a reporter stumbled across it thinking it was new.

We have received no indications of concern from the owners we deal with, who are individuals or groups of them. Nor has anyone on the travel forums I monitor said they've been tossed out on the street, so it looks like a non-story.

On a better note, one of our owners who we will meet again this fall is preparing another apartment for rental. I think we're going to get a tour of it.