Living under an Airbnb is hell.

[ThatDenimGoose]

So I live in a Victorian home that is split up into three apartments and I live on the second floor and the owner of the apartment above me has changed from a long term rental to a short term and has been taking bookings on Airbnb since the end of last year. Since then my neighbour on the ground floor and myself have been having issues with the endless rotation of different guests and also the owner has changed a two bedroom into a three bedroom apartment that can occupy up to six people. These guests come at the weekend and they make so much noise such as loud conversations and I can hear them stomping about upstairs and because the staircase is hollow the noise is amplified, lots of disturbances. A lot of loitering on the staircase also guests can keep their hands to themselves always touching personal property in the foyer. (We have Ring cameras) They go out after midnight and come back in the early hours of the morning drunk. And they also leave the shared entrance door open.

I feel living underneath this Airbnb it sounds like a party in my case even though music is not played. Just a property like this should not be taking that amount of people. I’ve complained to Airbnb with a copy of my noise journal but they say it has been resolved but they can’t disclose info because of privacy.

This has caused me so much grief and I feel absolutely helpless. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Gosh, this sounds awful. Are there planning issues involved? Who owns the apartments? Is this a sublet?

Can you keep reporting to Airbnb whenever there are guests that disturb you? Eventually they may remove your upstairs neighbour as a host.

And maybe get your ground floor neighbour to do the same each time.

You have my sympathy, I know from experience how awful noise can be and the impact on health.

Who is the freeholder and is there anything which might prevent this in your leasehold contracts?

Check the freehold and if there is any management company to help out?

Do you have the owners phone numbers? Because they really hate getting calls at 2am when their renters have been screaming and yelling in the hallways.

Keep a note of everything - dates, times, events…

we have the same - one was particularly bad until their idiot renters dragged back some women they met on a night out who robbed the place. Bloody nuisance.

I run holiday rentals, and live in a seaside resort. You have my sympathy as I know guests can be anti-social and noisy. Not mine, as I kick them out if they cause any problems, but some airbnb landlords are less respectful of their neighbours rights to privacy and peace. You should check your flat lease to see if holiday rentals are allowed in the property. In many cases they are not. You should tell the freeholder about the short term lets, as it may be against the buildings insurance policy. I have specialist insurance on my holiday houses that reflects the higher risks associated with temp. guests. Airbnb are useless at sorting out guest problems in my experience. However, I would get your local authority environmental health team involved and start a noise diary. There will be an anti-social behaviour officer in the council who is worth a chat to. On top, get in touch with the leasehold advisory service who offer free legal advice on your options.

Report to the the Councils planning department as a change of use. Hopefully if your LA is well resourced, they will actually do something.

As others have said, worth checking the terms of the leasehold, as change of use from a private residence could be in breach. Check what your local authority rules on Airbnb etc. are (some councils are quite strict). Also, there may the possibility of taking legal action against the owners if you can establish nuisance (this could include noise, disruption, damage to common parts, security risk due to a constant stream of strangers in and out of the property, etc).

Can you create signage politely asking them to keep noise to a minimum after 11 due to thin walls.

Also contact the owner and Airbnb directly asking for a note to be put on the apartment information outlining the need for quiet after 11 due to sound travelling

Are you sure that it is the owner that has changed to air b&b ? There’s been a rise in Rent to Service Accommodation recently (I think it should be illegal personally given the state of the housing market) whereby tenants pay the rent but sub let for airb&b. It might be a route to get them kicked out if this is the case.

as previous PPs have said, a lot of (albeit) recent freehold and leasehold agreements remove the right for this type of letting because of this exact issue. It would depend on their paperwork. But definitely complain to the council & freeholder.

A lot of leases prevent short term lets like this

I would report to AirBnb, the owner and the freeholder, every single time

Our leasehold property requires consent for any lettings and specifically doesn't allow short term lets. We have to submit a copy of the tenancy agreement as well as pay for permission to be granted. Start with looking into that. We would also need to apply for permission to change from 2 bed to 3 bed.

This

This sounds terrible. Can you move? I'd just move to be honest and say why

Report to the planning department an unauthorised change of use from c3 to c1 use class. This is useful even if it's a different local authority. You may need to wait until 90 days of Airbnb use has passed.
www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/lgnl/planning_and_building_control/Short_term_lets.aspx#:~:text=This%20is%20because%20after%2090,guest%20houses%20(Class%20C1).

Complain to your freeholder. It will probably be forbidden in the lease and at the very least is probably causing more wear and tear on the communal areas.

Complain to your Council - some Councils have banned short lets. Complain to Air B and B, your freeholder, your caretaker and leaseholder of the flat above -put up notices in communal areas re. noise etc etc.

As well as the advice already given, what does the building insurance policy say about what it can be used for?

If 2 out of 3 flats are not happy then look at the right to manage.
Who owns the freehold?
Also where are you? Most London boroughs and some others only allow short term lettings for 90 days in a year- so most airbnb are illegal.

@ThatDenimGoose I know exactly how you feel - I live in a Victorian building of six flats, four are Airbnb's, one is being done up as I type. I'm on the ground floor and can often hear the guests thudding about on the second floor, never mind the floor above me (the doors in my flat regularly rattle in their frames).
All the issues you mention are a problem, but I think the worst is the constant ringing of our doorbell and, on occasion, being treated like staff. Solidarity!

You could also report them to HMRC.

Be mindful of reporting this formally to anyone, especially if you're planning on moving at any point in the near future. You'll have to declare to any purchasers that you've made a formal complaint against a neighbour...which could then impact you selling your flat.

The vast majority of mortgages don't allow short term let's, even buy to let mortgages don't tend to allow it. If the flat is mortgaged (you can find this out on Land Registry) then your neighbour is in breech of their mortgage

Absolute nightmare I know exactly how you feel both apartments above me are holiday rentals and the one across. I go between rage and depression over it. I am currently trying to rest after an op while listening to furniture being constantly scraped along the floor upstairs 🙄.
Same here constant shouting in corridors,kids running up and down stairs screaming, door slamming furniture moving. The kids upstairs have buggered the lift because they keep pressing all the buttons. Constantly have randoms ringing my intercom. If I could find somewhere affordable to move to I would

Are you buying or renting.If buying check your lease it may say no holiday letting.Contact the freeholder and planning.

I used to live next to an Airbnb and it was a nightmare. Groups of kids used to rent it out for parties. Hated it.

I once met a stoned young man wandering up the back stairs (not ‘up’ - he was renting below us.

I asked if he was lost and he said that he was looking for a corner shop to buy some cigarettes… he was one of the idiots who brought back some women he and his pal
met on a night out and who robbed the place.