CONCERNS have been raised about the "out of control" expansion of short-term rental properties as research suggested some areas have one Airbnb listing for every four properties.
Edinburgh's Old Town has 29 active listings on the website per 100 properties, while the Isle of Skye had 25 for every 100 places.
The accommodation marketplace questioned the figures from the Guardian and said listings may not always affect availability of local housing stock.
The newspaper said it cross-referenced 250,000 listings on Airbnb with Government figures on housing stock, finding there were 0.8 for every 100 homes.
Dan Wilson Craw, director of housing pressure group Generation Rent, told the paper: "The unchecked growth of online holiday lettings is depriving communities of much-needed homes.
"In rural areas and cities alike, the story is the same: young adults can't afford to settle down in the areas they grew up in."
Authorities in Scotland will be able to bring in licensing schemes for short-term rents from 2021, and local authorities will be able to designate new control areas for short-term lets, with those wanting to let out properties in this way first having to obtain planning permission.
READ MORE: Concerns grow over Glasgow's lack of emergency housing
Scottish Green MSP Andy Wightman said: "The growth in short-term lets is out of control in Edinburgh and of increasing concern across Scotland."
Airbnb said that its findings were based on "unreliable scraped data and flawed methodology".
Patrick Robinson, director of public policy at Airbnb, said: "This data is wrong and the methodology is flawed. It assumes that every listing on Airbnb – including hotel rooms, B+Bs and rooms in homes – is an entire home, which is untrue.
"Nearly half of entire home listings on Airbnb are rented for less than 30 nights a year and more than half of all hosts say they rely on the additional income to help afford their home.
"Airbnb is a good partner to cities and we were the first platform limit how often hosts in London can share their homes.
"We are also working with cities across the UK on proposals for a host registration system that we will proactively put to the government later this year to help ensure that rules work for everyone."
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here