In Tromsø, some owners are pulling back from short-term lets. Lasse Vebostad of Tromsø Rental Hub (Global Rental Hub), which manages about 70 units, talks of “Airbnb shame”: unclear rules and a public row. He says their stock in the city is down about 10–15 percent. “It becomes frightening. People no longer dare to let.”

The municipality is tightening enforcement at the same time. With 2 million kroner from the state it has created two 22-month project posts in the illegal-use unit. NRK reported earlier, at the revised budget, that Rødt won the money; LO Tromsø nicknamed the group “Task Force Tromsø”. The city adds about 500,000 kroner of its own and 200,000 for data to map where short-term letting sits.

The stated aim is to find illegal commercial use in homes, apply fees and orders, and write a case guide other pressured municipalities can copy. Homes should return to the ordinary rental market. Not every Airbnb listing is illegal; the line is between lawful letting and shadow hotels in residential blocks.

MP Hanne Beate Stenvaag (Rødt, Troms) says planning law was not written for this volume of short stays. The project shows where tools are missing. She also expects a deterrent: “It sends a signal. Maybe people — at least the big operators who already know they are not quite inside the rules — will think twice.” It is not a quick fix, she says, but a start toward homes for people who actually live in Tromsø.

When the 2 million was allocated, Stenvaag said complaints had poured in and municipalities lacked money to follow up. Between 2016 and 2023, short-term homes in Tromsø rose 1,000 percent, NRK reported. Minister Bjørnar Skjæran (Labour) told Aftenposten in June that work would start at once and spoke of “shadow hotels” in residential streets.

Tourism has squeezed the rental market. NRK has cited people with April–October leases who are pushed out so the flat can go on Airbnb in season. Vebostad ties withdrawals to new rules and “negativity”. The city wants homes, not speculation objects. Lawful lets can continue; turning a stairwell into a hotel cannot.

Image: Harald Groven, Dramsveien, Tromsø, 25 January 2020, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons. A residential street, not an Airbnb listing.

Sources consulted: Merker «Airbnb-skam»: Nå rygger utleiere unna — NRK Troms og Finnmark; Setter av penger til spesialgruppe mot ulovlig korttidsutleie — Aftenposten.