Airbnb is investing an initial $250 million in affordable rental housing in the United States and abroad, as record numbers of young American adults remain living with their parents because they cannot afford to move out.
The company estimates that its Housing Accelerator initiative could unlock a further $5 billion in capital investment over the next decade. It will focus on directing finance towards housing developments, supporting pro-housing policy changes, improving construction technology and removing obstacles that prevent projects from getting under way.
Airbnb chief executive Brian Chesky acknowledged criticism that the company has reduced the supply of long-term homes and contributed to higher living costs in some cities.
“Airbnb has been a place people pointed to over the last 15 years, especially the last decade…for reasons why cities are expensive,” Mr Chesky told Time. “And so we have wanted to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.”
Airbnb’s $250 million affordable housing investment
The first priority will be lower-cost and mixed-income developments. Airbnb is committing $6.4 million to support the construction of more than 200 affordable housing units in Austin, Texas.
The company is also launching a $5 million housing innovation prize for businesses and non-profit organisations working to make homebuilding cheaper and easier.
Airbnb said research it commissioned found that about 750,000 homes in the US had met regulatory requirements but lacked the final financial backing needed for construction to begin. Hundreds of thousands of other housing projects are also in limbo.
The Housing Accelerator will concentrate on so-called “last-dollar” financing, which can determine whether approved projects remain stalled or proceed to construction.
The initiative comes as the US housing shortage continues to affect young workers. A record 25.2 million adults aged under 35 lived with their parents in 2025, equivalent to about one in three young adults, according to a 2026 report from Realtor.com.
About 70% of 25 to 34-year-olds living with their parents are employed, the report said. Their decision to remain at home is linked not simply to a lack of work, but to low incomes, job insecurity, debt and insufficient savings alongside the cost of housing.
“The growth [of young generations living at home] is coming from working adults, not people waiting to find jobs,” Hannah Jones, a senior economist at Realtor.com and author of the report, said. “Something about their income level, debt load, or the cost of housing in their market is keeping them home despite steady employment.”
The pressure is also affecting parents. A Wells Fargo survey found that 64% of parents with Gen Z children aged between 18 and 28 said their adult children still depended on them for money, housing or other financial support.
More than half, or 56%, said helping their grown-up children was putting strain on their own finances.
The housing challenge is compounded by the number of homes that remain unused. Recent US Census Bureau data indicated that more than 15 million homes were empty, representing roughly 10% of the country’s total housing supply.
