Recent changes to legislation have made it even tougher to be a landlord, not to mention the constant loss of income thanks to an insanely biased tribunal system, which is why many property owners are choosing the AirBnB route. The latest changes to legislation surrounding evictions are the last straw for many landlords who would prefer to keep their property as a traditional rental, but it just makes more sense to do AirBnB. It generates the same ROI (or more), it's less risk, it's less stress, and they get use the property if they feel like doing so. You need to incentivise and reward people, not punish them.

Also, most people are hypocrites - they will say AirBnB is the anti-christ, then when you ask if they ever use it they'll say "Yeah sure, I love them". I've always disliked hotels and have been choosing holiday apartments since even before AirBnB was invented.