To complain about the Air B'n'Bs next door?

[thatdamnwoman]

30 years ago I made a decision to leave the city and come and live in a rural area of Wales, near the coast, for a calmer, quieter life. The houses in this little enclave are nothing special but they're all detached and in decent-sized gardens and most of the neighbours were looking for a similar quiet, low-key existence. Quite a few of the houses are second homes but that didn't seem to cause much of an issue. Fast forward 25 years and now about half the properties here are being offered on Air B'n'B and the whole atmosphere of the place has changed. The two houses closest to me are both second homes and are both let out almost permanently on Air B'n'B. From Easter to the end of September they are chock-a-block, often with large groups. Both houses have a minimum 2-night stay, so there can be three or more changes of tenants each week.

Weekends, in particular, are a nightmare. Large groups of probably perfectly pleasant people arrive from town and then want to sit out in the gardens until 2 or 3am in the morning, drinking and barbecuing and whooping at the sheer wonder of being able to see the stars. I do understand how lovely it must seem if you spend most of your life in town and how tempting to want to sit out and play music and keep the fire pit going all night — but what about me, next door, having to sleep with the windows shut because of the smoke and noise?

I've asked the two neighbours who own the properties closest to me to change the wording on their Air B'n'B listing to tell people that there's to be no noise after, say, 10pm (I've stayed in a number of Air B'n'Bs where this has been a stipulation) and they have both adjusted the wording to ask people to 'respect the neighbours' — which of course they don't do once they've had a few glasses of wine. One of the neighbours has responded to my complaint about noise by installing a piano outdoors on the covered terrace in their garden, so at 7.15am this morning I was woken by a child 'playing' the piano 30 feet from my bedroom window. It might not be such a big issue in town but here, where it's quiet and there's nothing but birdsong, it's really intrusive.

I've complained to Air B'n'B and the council, but the council is stretched beyond capacity and when I've tried to get Environmental Health officers to come out at 2am and monitor the noise themselves I've been told that there's no one available. Am I being so unreasonable to want the Air B'n'B guests to be quiet after 10pm?

Gosh, I think Air B&B has become a bigger problem than people realise. We used to live in a downstairs flat in a very nice/touristy part of London and our upstairs neighbours were away so much (lucky is we thought at first) that they decided to put their flat on air B&B for the times they weren’t using it.

It really bothered me to have random people buzzing themselves into a gated residence (they had been given the code), seeing strangers hanging around in the communal hallway with their suitcases, then buzzing other people in all the time when the other residents were so vigilant about security and never letting hawkers etc in.

It made us all feel so unsafe. This was a building with 8 flats so not a large block and small enough that we all sort of knew each other.

The owners of the flat were just trying to make a bit of extra cash, I get that, but it should be regulated in some way. Or, in our case, written into the lease that you can’t sublet for short periods. Sadly, it wasn’t.

We moved away so I don’t know if it’s still going on but it was a very unsettling experience.

When I was lodging a complaint, I recorded everything. At the start, I would say the time and date and support this by recording live news which showed the time. I did this because the arsehole disputed the times.
As well as the recordings, I also wrote everything down. Every week I emailed everything to the owner and council. Every night I would ring the owner, and keep ringing until they answered. They weren't happy at being woken and asked me to stop.

I also used to bang on their door every single time. Stuff like that will give bad reviews about unreasonable neighbours.
Any chance you can create fake accounts and do fake bookings, cancelling at the last possible minute so you don't get charged?

Go and complain directly to the people staying there. Do it often during their stay. Shout out the window. Be very very annoying and rude if you can. You wont have the see them again! Hopefully, this will start getting to the reviews. This is probably the only way they will take note, once it starts affecting 'business'.

Sorry to rant, I know your concern is with noise specifically. Can you rant on Air B&B or do you have to have made a booking at the property?

Otherwise, yes, create hell and make them leave terrible reviews.

You could be REALLY underhand and PAY them to leave a scathing review. 😳

The piano is a pisstake and needs to go.

You need to get some nice smelly pigs as pets.

Or, an idea I read in a thread the other day, put some really smelly manure down (I hear lion poop is very potent) next to your boundary fence/hedge. With any luck the stench will keep them indoors

I would call the owners every time you are kept awake. Or woken early. Or inconvenienced in any way.

Another good idea. And don’t forget to hammer loudly on the renters doors on your way to work to make sure they don’t get a lie in.

Have they got permission from the LA to run it as a business? I'm assuming this is needed as there is commercial gain from the property.

I'd be tempted to complain to Air BNB directly as well.

I'm going against the grain here. You chose to move to a coastal holiday resort and are now complaining about holidaymakers. You chose to live in an 'enclave' with houses close to each other - in retrospect, a more isolated country cottage would have been a better choice.

Its also 30 years since you bought your property - things have changed a lot with regards to affordability since then. Houses are more expensive, stamp duty is more and you pay more tax at higher rate on rental income. People need to make their assets work for them if they are to enjoy any quality of life. Now, I know many people think those who have second homes are unfairly privileged, but perhaps that it at the expense of having a studio or one bedroom flat elsewhere and commuting to work in a busy city most of the time. I digress; I think if you buy a property in a coastal holiday resort and then complain about holidaymakers enjoying themselves, you will find yourself remarkably unpopular with all those other property owners in your enclave, and rightly so.

Its really not that bad noise and disturbance, is it - its not loud music and thumping beats. It is literally people enjoying themselves in a place where you would expect to do so. Its not any worse and probably a whole lot better than you would here in the average town street. I speak as someone who quite deliberately chose a property with no near neighbours. Perhaps that might be your solution - cash in on the value of your home and sell up and buy a more private place.

This is terrible. I'm so sorry that this is happening. As others say, record and log it and complain every time. To the owners and to the nosiy people.

Put a letter through the door early evening every evening reminding visitors this is a residential area and they should respect the "local community" and keep the noise down from the start. This might make them feel on edge like they have arrived in the village from The Wicker Man.

Sounds a nightmare and really thoughtless of the guests.

Cockerel and hens
Or move.
Don't worry about the piano, it won't last long outside in British weather.

@RosaWaiting, I really don't think there is a "huge problem" with Airbnb's.

When you consider how many there must be in the UK alone I expect the problem ones are in the minority.

I certainly don't want it banned. Me and DH use it all the time, at least once a month, here and abroad and think it is brilliant. For less than the price of a budget hotel we can get a whole apartment or house. So we have a nice comfortable sofa instead of just the bed in a hotel. We can cook for ourselves if we want, we can have breakfast at the time we want and not when the hotel tell us and we can stay in all day if we want whereas hotels usually want you to go out so they can clean.

One word. Rooster.

I certainly don't want it banned. Me and DH use it all the time, at least once a month, here and abroad and think it is brilliant. For less than the price of a budget hotel we can get a whole apartment or house.

Of course you don't want it banned - you don't want to pay the proper price to a local business. Book a proper self catering cottage. I don't see why the OP should be inconvenienced in this way because people like you are cheapskates. Everyone I know who uses AirBnB could easily afford somewhere else.

Have you considered keeping hens?

Cockerels are a right pain in the arse early in the morning, but they are perfectly acceptable in a rural setting.

Get yourself a large vicious dog.

Alternatively - are the Welsh nationalists around still?! Maybe get them to set fire to the air b n b's but claim Welsh nationality yourself?! Only half joking...

ChardonnaysPrettySister - excellent - but I bet they won't mind as cockerels are country!

One of DPs 2 holiday homes has a cockerel in the 'farm' backing onto one property - it was not there with the people before but the bloody thing starts up early. Luckily my earplugs drown him out and I quite like his call! Surprised the local farm cats don't touch him!

My knowledge of planning law (such as it is) relates to England rather than Wales, but in England it has been held that, in some situations, running a property on AirBnB constitutes a change of use requiring planning permission. I think you've spoken to the noise team at the council, but have you spoken to planning enforcement?

I grew up on a farm. Many a morning was spent thinking up ways to kill the bloody thing.

There is a huge problem with air bnb. I'm completely sympathetic, and your neighbour is a total arse. Do they realise the scale of the problem? Perhaps if you contacted them every.single.time their guests make a nuisance of themselves?

I've had the neighbour's air BNB cleaner / guests fill up 2 of my big garden bins with their rubbish a few times. Was disgusting.

30ft isn't far. Could you get a hose or supersoaker and drench the piano? It'll be rotten in no time. Also, a nighttime garden sprinkler that drenches their firepit?

IncandescentShadow - so OP should put up and shut up as she moved there not that long ago...

These Air b n b stayers and owners are being selfish twats by being so noisy.

I can think of sort of a similar scenario - friends of DPs own a house in foothills of Pyrenees. Summer and some other times they run art courses (both are ex art teachers and he does lithograph printing). They often have friends come over - a local circus decamps nearby etc. Luckily for them they're sort of in a hamlet or just outside a small village - not that near neighbours apart from a farm complete with hissing geese, cows etc... So if the farmers complain they wouldn't have that many grounds... however this is seasonal and I think they've dialled their noise down a bit. Also would probably stop before midnight which is reasonable. You have to be considerate of others.

Complain, complain and then complain again. To the owners, occupier and the council. Monitor noise yourself. Write to the local paper and your MP and local counsellors.

We've stayed in AirBnB's, close to neighbours and were asked to be quiet on the balcony from 10pm, no problem at all.

Complain complain complain. Every single time to the guests and the owners.

Chardonnays - poor cockerel.... I can see how it would grate after a few years though even if you're a country lass.