Is there an ethical form of Air BnB?

[NotCamping]

Not camping or hostels. I’d rather go without a holiday than camp but I’d love to holiday in the UK and partly self cater because I love to frequent local butchers, bakeries, grocers etc and buy and cook local produce. However I usually stay in Bnbs and hotels where I can’t do this.

I don’t want to use Air BnB because it can be bad for the local community but it’d be nice for us(2-4 people) to occasionally get to cook and enjoy local produce.

Is there a more ethical version of Air BnB? Perhaps a site where people genuinely let out their home while they’re not using it?

I’d appreciate any suggestions.

TIA

Yes! https://fairbnb.coop/

Gosh, I’d never heard of this.

I use nothing but Airbnb. Im ov the view that given the amount we eat out, the local attractions we go to while we're away we are supporting the local economy and jobs in the area

I wouldnt go to a hotel, cant stand the thought of being camped in one room with no cooking or relaxing facilities. So we wouldnt go if I didnt use self catering. It makes no odds what platform that self catering property is on, sykes cottages, cottages.com, airbnb whatever it is.

I add airbnb to the list of current obsessions people have to show they are worthy. UPFs is another.

There are so many regulations for short term holiday lets now which make letting out the home you live in for a short period very difficult. Many people have let out the only home they own via the likes of Airbnb whilst they are aware but there might be less now because of all the requirements or there might be properties which don't meet the requirements which you probably wouldn't want to stay in. Have you thought of doing a home swop? That's probably the closest to what you're looking for, pretty sure that wouldn't require the fire regs/EICR/liability insurance etc etc which goes with a commercial let.

Away not aware

Static caravan site or lodge/chalet in holiday park?

Just because something is on Airbnb it isn't necessarily bad. The places we have stayed have either been part of someone's house or a converted outbuild on a farm. You just have to think about the potential impact of your choices. Any holiday cottage/apartment booki g platform will have the same potential issues to the community.

You can look at sites like independent cottages where no booking commission is taken.

Or focus on an area and then look at local fb pages and village websites.

When I started mine I couldn't afford air b n b or booking . Com commissions.

I found local advertising and personal information and welcome packs have meant huge repeat bookings.

Which are often advertised on airbnb, why would it be different?

People assume that if a property is advertised on airbnb, it means that the property is a second property owned by someone who is removing the opprotunity for a 'local' to own property in that area

Forgetting of course that not all airbnb properties are standalone properties, many are annexes or outbuildings, many are properties that locals couldnt afford, even if there were literally no airbnb properties in the area, forgetting that airbnb is an advertising platform, no more, no less, it isnt a 'thing', it has simply joined a range of companies that advertise self catering properties, all around the world.

Many of us only use self catering properties, I wouldnt use a hotel or bnb. We dont go camping anymore either

Home swapping?

I would go for cottages , annexes or lodges in grounds of an existing home- as it's less likely these would ever be on the open rent market .

Our holiday let is on air b and b. 99% of the time we rent it privately or via booking. Air b and b is just a platform to advertise

Ours is an annexe to our house. If we didn’t rent it it would just be our house, it wouldn’t become part of any rental market as it’s not a separate lodging.

we mainly rent peak summer only, to small families ( sleeps 4, child friendly). Those families spend lots of money locally eating out, paying tourists taxes, to attractions, etc.

I'm bemused by the Airbnb hate, it's just a booking platform. Self catering holiday properties have been around for ever. We stayed in a self catering cottage every year when I was a kid in the 80s

Thanks all.

I’d be happy to use an annex or similar so I’ll take another look at Air BnB. I’ve used it once when staying in a room in an owner occupied home so it’s good to hear that there are seemingly many of those available. That wasn’t really an option when I last used it but that will be because of the area I was staying in.

Air BnB isn’t inherently bad but it can and does cause very real problems for areas when it’s more profitable for landlords to turn their properties into solely Air BnBs or sell them to people who will use them for that purpose which means that there’s very little housing available for people who work and reside in the area. It’s a very real problem in much of Cornwall, The Lake District, Edinburgh and other areas.

I’ll look into the other suggestions too thank you.

How is Airbnb different to the olden days when we chose holiday cottages from paper brochures?

Has the number of holiday properties increased significantly since the internet came along?

Theres tons of self catering advertising companies, airbnb is just one of them.

Has the number of holiday properties increased significantly since the internet came along?

It most definitely has.

This.

I have such a lodge. All the lodges on the site are second homes and no-one is depriving a local of a home because planning permission was granted for holiday use only so they can't be lived in permanently.

I don't let mine; it's used by family and friends only. But many of the other owners do (sometimes through Airbnb, sometimes through eg Hoseasons)

I suspect it's as much a problem of people having more holidays as the arrival.if the Internet. Not so long ago most people had one holiday a year. Now it's not unusual for people to have 2 or 3 short breaks as well.

Use dedicated holiday accommodation, that is lets they built/converted purely for holiday accommodation purposes, or book a cabin or caravan that again is only there for holidays. It's family homes and apartments in residential areas that are the issue

It's not necessarily the platform you book through that's the issue, it's taking homes out of residential use that's the problem. Pick wisely...

Airbnb takes all the hate, but it keeps many rural economies going. But you can make good choices about the type of property you choose to rent...

It's the houses that I object to being used, particularly the small terraced houses that would be starter or young family homes.

I have a cabin in the garden about 300m from the house on our land. It wouldn't be rented to a family or a local because I don't want to share my property permanently. It's not taking housing away from anyone. But it brings in a great income on Airbnb and the people who stay there use the shops, pubs, cafes, riding stables, canoe companies, paintball and activity centres, garages, massage and beauty places - so much that keeps our rural economy going.

There are some really nice static caravans / lodges and these aren't taking a home from locals if that's your concern. It's a world away from camping and if you choose well just as good as a cottage sometimes. Some are advertised on Airbnb, or we've used Direct Holiday Homes or UKcaravansforhire to find some much cheaper than going through the holiday companies. It does always feel like a risk using those sites as you are paying owner direct usually, but never had a problem fingers crossed, and the privately owned caravans are often much nicer with more facilities / better outside space than the holiday park owned ones