Air Bnb has ruined my life

That sounds intolerable OP. I'm sorry it's disrupting your life so much. Renters really do get a rough time.

I am so sorry this is happening to you, I've obviously heard about the problems in Spain caused by Airbnb. It's similar same here in the UK.

I have friends in a similar situation here in the UK. They've left their hometown (nice town in a National Park) because they can no longer afford to live there and there are simply no smaller flats or apartments available that are not Airbnb.

It's upsetting that people can no longer hope to live near family, friends and work. Sadly I don't think the current UK government care about anyone who lives outside London or bigger cities, so it won't change soon.

I just wish people would stop using Airbnb, but I guess the kind of people who do use it are the kinds of people who simply don't care about other people, local communities, and the immense amount of damage they cause.

There are plenty of restrictions/regulations involved in running a holiday let (Airbnb is just an advertising platform like all the other holiday/cottage companies). There is a move towards licencing as they have in Scotland, France etc. This is very welcome as will weed out those people who are just cashing in with no care for the health and safety of their guests let alone giving them a great holiday experience.

I am so sorry you find yourself in this situation. It sounds horrendous and I hope you find a way out.
This thread has solidified for me the fact that I should not make the small property that I recently inherited into an Air BNB. I had been considering a but will now put it up for long term rental.

I’m honestly shocked Spain has not clamped down on this. It would be the simplest way to deal with over tourism. It used to be tourism levels could be controlled by the number of hotel rooms. Now it is a free for all.

I’m always perplexed why certain small things need planning permission, but a person can rent their home out as an Air B&B without any restrictions needed. Same with dog boarding. I’m a big dog lover but with the hot weather and home working the incessant barking from one ‘new dog in the block’ is making me want to scream.

I use companies like this for my trips to France and elsewhere. It mirrors the original ethos of Abnb which is no longer true to its roots. Anyway it can be a bit hit and miss with the odd eccentric owner thrown in for good measure and a good laugh, but never felt any danger as I'd always book a room with a couple or a female living there. So far so good and so very affordable when I'm travelling on my own as the cost of hotels with a single supplement is outrageous.

https://www.homestay.com/france/arles/57300-homestay-in-la-roquette-arles

I hope the annexe is all up to date with fire regulations/insurance etc.

We love staying in Airbnb's, there are so many great options and we always get somewhere with a kitchen. We are always very respectful. At the same time I 100% think they should be banned/much more strictly controlled in many cities and islands as they take housing away from locals. I wouldn't blame governments at all for doing that despite the fact that I love using them.

I do think though that living in a flat is often difficult whether the neighbours are Airbnbers or people there full time. I have had many bad experiences of flats without airbnbers, including people up at 5:30 being noisy getting ready for work, bottle bins being emptied vey early and smoking in the bathroom and all the smoke coming into our bathroom through the vent.

A lot of hoteliers jumped at the government deal to house asylum seekers as they had suffered during covid - many of those have now been returned to the original owners rather damaged, and so have never re-opened.

Same thing happened in different circumstances where the government sequestered stately homes in WW2 for the army to use, very many were not fit for habitation afterwards, too expensive to fix up and got demolished.

A combination of covid and the need to accommodate asylum seekers caused such damage to the businesses and Air Bnb has filled the void.

It is a political and planning issue, for sure. There are countries that manage it well and where every Air BNB first needs a permission to become one, and there is a max in every location. Commercial use is also planned for, Air BNB is essentially commercial use and as it is a new concept a lot of countries are just lagging in regulation. So I would complain to your local authority and tell them to manage the situation better. Max amount per apartment block and in each area and fees payable by landlords and overnight guest tourist charges etc.

Yes, they could do something with the communal areas, true, although really it needs to be in the actual flats.

@Pinkpeanut27 mouse cancelling headphones is the best autocorrect ever 😂😂😂😂

it's not the same as eBay is it? I mean Airbnb affects people very badly. eBay doesn't.

Eh?

Regardless of how Airbnb started out, they’re not preventing users (businesses) with multiple properties from using their platform. And if the current way Airbnb operates didn’t align with their strategy, then a huge business such as Airbnb wouldn’t be doing it. And actively PREVENTING Airbnb - and other platforms like them - from doing it would go a long way towards curbing the impact.

But, similarly, I completely agree with you that government intervention is required - and we all know that many people in politics own vast amounts of property, so….

We always go self catering and often use airbnb. My daughter has health needs that mean we can't eat out easily. I do think that local authorities should have better control over this business model though and manage the impact on local communities. They don't need to let it decimate local areas, some cities in europe have this strictly regulated.

I am very aware of how young people are priced out of buying houses in their local areas in places like Devon and Cornwall and we try to holiday in less popular places or use purpose built holiday properties like static caravans or lodges rather than residential homes.

I think it is only a matter of time before airb&b is restricted in the UK because council's are using ever increasing amounts of their budgets to house homeless families in temporary accommodation, and the rate this is growing will bankrupt some of them in a few short years otherwise.

I hope there is a clampdown on these lettings in Spain OP.

https://www.londoncouncils.gov.uk/news-and-press-releases/2025/ps330m-homelessness-overspend-housing-crisis-threatens-bankrupt-london

I didn’t mean in the other flats, I meant in the communal areas.

She's not going to be able to do that in the other flats, though, is she? The owners don't care.

You see i don't agree at all. Airbnb started out as a small enterprise to let people make some extra cash by renting out spare rooms to holiday makers..
The issues with people trying to run whole businesses via that platform are caused by local government not regulating the use of buildings well enough.
As I said before airbnb is one of many ways this issue occurs. If it wasn't airbnb it would be something else. It's slum landlording but just via a modern platform. The government needs to crack down on it but it's not a popular move amongst the upper classes is it? Let's be honest this is how a lot of money is made
You can point the finger at airbnb but it's just a smokescreen
The real issue is that it's legal to buy up multiple properties that you have no intention of living in.. no one individual or company should own entire streets of housing. Yet in some places they do!!
Rent control is also important. Zoning.
We need to put more pressure on government to implement these things.

I really think local laws need to
change to prevent short-term, hotel like rentals in residential areas. There needs to be some provision for people who need legitimate short-term housing so laws need to be crafted carefully, but zoning laws exist for a reason. Tourists don’t belong next door to people trying to work and school.

I would start by making Airbnb like rentals comply with all hotel safety regulations and inspections plus pay all similar taxes. If you rent places out for less than 30 days, you should have to follow the same rules as a hotel.

Indeed.