Police raid illegal Airbnb's in Reykjavik
80 percent of the apartments were without necessary permits. mbl.is/Sigurður Bogi Sævarsson
Officials from the Reykjavik Metropolitan Police as well as the State Tax Department visited 40 - 50 Airbnb apartments and guesthouses last night in central Reykjavik following tip-offs that the owners did not have permits to rent them out.
According to Sigurbjörn Jónsson at the Reykjavik Metropolitan Police, 80 percent of the places visited did not have the necessary permits.
On top of work permits, guesthouses need permits from the health and fire departments.
All the owners in question were given a limited amount of time to sort out their permits.
New laws on Airbnb rentals in Iceland start on January 1st 2017, in which people are limited to renting out their homes for 90 days at a time.
