To think AirBNBs ruin streets

[Greyrootszerohoots]

We live in a quiet cul de sac, elderly couples and a few young families mainly.

One house that was an empty second home for 5+ years - never met owners - has become an Airbnb this year. Crazy prices and large groups of new holidayers (3/4 cars) coming and going every couple of days.

I realise it’s a first world problem and I actually have far serious things to worry about, but it’s really changed the whole dynamic of a very neighbourly and quiet street and I sort of feel like it takes a shitty person to cash in at the expense of the other households.

Has anyone else experienced this?

@Greyrootszerohoots

It obviously adds a lot of complex issues around social cohesion and community, particularly in small towns and villages where people are out. I’m sure a lot of hospitality staffing issues in this area would be eased if people could actually afford to live here.

I think the earlier Airbnb model of staying with a host was great, but the whole house format is destructive.

My experience is just one house on one street but the change in dynamic is huge. Our neighbours are mostly elderly - everyone looks out for and helps one another but now don’t know who is coming or going. I can see how there would be a link to crime rates.

I sound like a real curtain twitcher here, but the day to day is that it just makes the street feel less lovely than it was, and on a practical level I’m concerned about kids playing out because of the driving of those who don’t realise they’re about to hit a dead end!

Seriously? You need to get some sort of life! With all these elderly neighbours where are the kids playing outside coming from? Regarding crime, uou're all that busy at your curtains I don't think your crime rate will increase. Welcome to the real world!

Mantlemoose

You didn't consider the impact on the local community? Have you not read the thread?

@paepoyrol

I think there should be much higher taxes on additional homes but the population won't vote for that.

The population would vote for that because the greatest majority can barely afford one! The problem is the politicians and their friends...... the only policies that ever reach our ears have been pre approved by them

@PhoenixFreesias

Live in central Edinburgh and it is having a really detrimental effect. It needs to be much, much better regulated.

For example a cap on the % of properties in a street that can be short term lets and a local levy that pays for things like a noise response team, increased bin collections etc.

It’s not just noise and comings and going’s, it’s also things like little shops locally closing down and people dumping bin bags in the street.

It’s becoming a playground or a theme park rather than somewhere people live.

The only positive thing is that the air bnb owners in our block are always at least fairly keen for repairs/improvements in common areas to go ahead because they like to keep the cosmetic appearance up.

Edinburgh should look at what's happened in places like Berlin (where we used to live) -- whole neighbourhoods have 0 flats to rent for locals because everything has gone Airbnb. Rents skyrocketed. They brought restrictions in but they're badly enforced. It's really awful.

I think it's lovely to be able to rent a flat instead of a hotel room but Airbnb flats should be regulated like hotels and pay higher taxes.

We had an issue with this in our old street - central Edinburgh. Small lane with about 15 properties. When we moved in the street was all residential (either owners or long term lets), by the time we left 11 years later there were only 4 residents left, including us. It really changed the place dramatically and not for the better.

I had a guy come to view who wanted to air bnb the place, and was talking about squeezing a kitchenette in to the livingroom so he could turn the kitchen in to another bedroom. I told the solicitors I wasn't interested in selling to him.

@grey12 I don't think they would unfortunately

I refuse to stay in Air B&B for this reason. Yes, I’ll stay in properly regulated self catering holiday lets - funnily enough, I quite like having fire safety measures in place, for example, but Air B&B is too destructive to communities.

We also aren’t allowed to use them for work accommodation because of the complete lack of regulation - not just fire safety etc but there have been many cases of hidden cameras in them. Yes, there are some good professional holiday lets on Air B&B, who will be completely fine if they have to put up with more regulation. The FT had a good piece on them in Europe, pointing out that some locals who have inherited property basically don’t need to work any more and can live entirely off their Air B&B. This is the only way they can now afford to stay put, as they were unskilled and had no way of earning a living otherwise. It’s like a return to the Middle Ages, when your inheritance decided your entire life.

Some cities now have a max of 30 day rental in any one year because of this issue with short term lets.

Hate them. We are losing our primary schools here because so many houses are now holiday homes. Instead of being homes to families with young children they are occupied by a different set of holiday makers each week. The school has to close and vene very young children have to be bused to one four miles away. It is happening in lots of neighbouring villages too.

The holiday makers think they are doing us all a massive favour spending money on local shops and providing employment to locals, but honestly the negatives far outweigh any positives. They only shop during the spring and summer months. The jobs provided are seasonal, low paid and zero hours contracts. With working from home more common place now more and more people can work full time and for better, more stable wages. Those seasonal jobs are going unfilled now. No one wants them when there are better alternatives.

The Air b and bs bring lots of late night noise, overflowing bins and inconsiderate parking.

why are air bnbs worse than holiday cottages? is it because of the shorter let's? Is it better to have 2nd homes empty? it's quite complex tbh.

As dc we often holidayed abroad where the hotels had sort of kitchenette/hotel room hybrids which was very handy. I don't think they are a thing in the UK or are very ££££

We won’t use Air B&B on principle, because of this. They are awful for communities.

The FT had a good piece on them in Europe, pointing out that some locals who have inherited property basically don’t need to work any more and can live entirely off their Air B&B.

This is property in general though as the market is so skewed. I have a relative who inherited a 1.2m house, here & her partner rent out their own flats & live of the income. I know lots of older people with more than one home.

They're awful. I have to report Airbnb people virtually weekly for parking with their cars overhanging the pavement. We have a lot of elderly neighbours who use electric wheelchairs who are forced to go into the road by inconsiderate Range Rovers. And they're really bloody noisy too.

The people who bought the house said they'd love to live here full time but they had jobs, kids in school far away so they were going to use it as their holiday hideaway until their kids finished school/they retired. It was a total lie - they had no intention of doing that. I know for a fact the owner wouldn't have sold it to them if they'd been honest.

I think in Wales councils can charge double council tax which is a start.

But yes, it absolutely is a change of use, and it should be under local democratic control. Possibly restricting lettings in residential areas to a max %, setting a minimum let (eg 1 week). Shorter term / Noisy party lets might be a better use of office buildings being converted in town centres, where they could -ah - help the night time economy?

But as several pps have said, when our rulers snd their supporters are so invested in makind as much money from property as they possibly can, it is probably wishful thinking to hope for national legislative change.

Mind you the Chesham and Amersham by-election did show that local planning concerns carry electoral weight, so the most cheesed off might write to local mps?

I live in a holiday area but it's appeal is quite 'outdoorsy' ( wildlife, cycling etc) and we have big, well-serviced camp/caravan parks, a number of really quite nice chalet developments etc and in fact not a massive amount of holiday lets in homes (and many of those are an annexe of the owner's house, which is probably the least worst option from the neighbours point of view. Not aware that any of this is policy as such, but there is quite a lot of space here which helps.

Maybe "only lets where owner resides at the address/adjacent" would keep things sweeter - though there are of course entitled arseholes everywhere...

I do wonder what us the best for us to do ourselves..stayed in a bungalow on the coast earlier this year, and the whole culdesac pretty much seemed to use the same gardening contracor. Outside school holidays do drives empty. The entire area felt eviscerated, the shops in town were 'posh' and looked useless to residents of a poorish rural area.

Will try harder in future to find chalets) mobile homes etc as they are additional to the local housing. You get my money, but I don't get your house. It seems wrong thatvthat option is often more expensive that a regular house. Surely it should be the other way round.

And for shorter urban stays, stick to hotels?

Yanbu at all. I’m another one who won’t stay in them myself because I don’t like what they do to neighbourhoods and how they impact immediate neighbours. I live next door to a short-term let place myself and that is bad enough. My experiences mean I’m very sympathetic to this issue.

There is a big focus on flying and emissions when talking about holidays, but I think too much tourism and badly planned tourism are also big problems. This whole area ought to be properly researched, but there’s too much money in mass tourism to have the will to do it unfortunately. For us as individuals there are some steps we can take: choosing hotels and dedicated holiday places is one. I also agree that the air bnb model whereby you stay with the host is great. I’ve not done that myself, but have done other homestays and they’re great.

Someone posted on another thread yesterday that off the beaten track is usually friendlier - no surprise there. A bit of tourism is great, but locals tend to resent high numbers. Even when they work in the industry themselves.

Ruin streets? Ruin entire cities more like.
They suck away properties from locals who can't compete on buying price or rental price.
Airbnb itself is a shady tax avoiding mega corp. Exploiting loopholes at the expense of communities, the same communities that make it so nice to visit them.
It's one thing to rent out a spare room or annex, quite another to snap up central property after property to build an empire reliant on local workers cleaning the places, while hotels that actually have to pay salaried staff and UK tax are left to moulder.

Well said @GingerBeverage!

And hearing what they do to major cities, like Edinburgh as many mentioned, smaller towns and villages just have no chance.

Agree with Ginger - when airbnb was first set up it was little more than sofa surfing/renting out a spare room in your house. It's now become ridiculous and unsustainable.

We TRY and only rent holiday properties which are an annexe to the owner's house, or a conversion on a farm, the kind of place where it would be unusual for someone to have it as their permanent home.

Our next door neighbour has 2 airbnb properties in a small rural village and they're not the only ones.

During Covid lockdowns about 8 cottages in village where DBro lives (holiday destination) were sold to people coming from cities, but the purchasers hadn't sold their city homes, just bought additional properties

hotels that actually have to pay salaried staff and UK tax are left to moulder

But that's the problem isn't it - lots and lots of people don't want to stay in UK hotels if they have a choice. I don't. So realistically any solution needs to recognize that and find more sustainable ways to have holiday accommodation people actually want - it isn't reasonable or realistic to say that people simply shouldn't dare to visit Cornwall if they didn't happen to be born there, or that if they do they should be forced to use a form of accommodation they don't actually want.

@Hardbackwriter

hotels that actually have to pay salaried staff and UK tax are left to moulder

But that's the problem isn't it - lots and lots of people don't want to stay in UK hotels if they have a choice. I don't. So realistically any solution needs to recognize that and find more sustainable ways to have holiday accommodation people actually want - it isn't reasonable or realistic to say that people simply shouldn't dare to visit Cornwall if they didn't happen to be born there, or that if they do they should be forced to use a form of accommodation they don't actually want.

And here's the problem. People want to be able to go where they want, when they want, with the kind of accommodation they want, at the price they want. It is entirely reasonable and realistic to say that no, you cant have everything your way when we're talking about luxuries like holidays.

Your desire for a self catering cottage over a hotel (which is not unreasonable in and of itself) is not a good enough reason to allow the continued gutting of local communities.

@Dongdingdong

They ruin communities. There's a massive housing shortage where I live and a LOT of Air B&Bs.

This.

Thing is, if you are lucky to live in place which tourists want to come you are benefitting from the extra money that they spend and bring into the area. Where do you prefer that large hotel complexes were built in your local area instead? I imagine the trend for short breaks within the UK it's not going away, and ice hope there will be less air travel to foreign holidayTo help the environment

I would be interested if people that live in tourist areas are ever tourists anywhere else?

(Also why do people always mention 4 x 4s and unsociable tourists in the same sentence? They are surely not all the same - I dont have a 4 x 4 btw, neither do I consider myself unsociable....but maybe I am for staying in the air bnbs or tourist areas?)

I have to say that I do prefer self catering, over a hotel (I didnt realise this was a bad thing) but I've never given a thought to whether air bnb is worse than a holiday let. I usually just go with what's available and in budget (Either camping, caravan or cottage)

In a lot of countries, you cannot let out a house or apartment as a holiday let. The lovely tourist areas won't be so lovely when the locals can no longer afford to live there. And then everyone will complain the place looks run down, and the restaurants are understaffed.

I rarely stay in hotels because I have an autistic child who can't cope with them. But we stay in aparthotels or places we book via booking.com. We don't do Airbnb any more.

@Fizbosshoes - they're not always 4x4s but they are typically the ones badly parked. The holiday let on my street really has a single parking space parallel to the house so if people bring two cars, one has to park over the dropped kerb.

The only cars I have seen park side by.side at right angles to the house overhanging the pavement have been range rovers.

@Fizbosshoes Hotels or aparthotels for me, precisely because I have seen the damage Air BnB does. Both in central Edinburgh where I am now and rural Scotland where I used to live.

Tend also to look for places where tourism isn’t a dominant or major part of the local economy.

I have stayed in an AirBnB once. STBXH had to visit a client who lived very remotely and the only thing available within 30 miles. I tagged along to see a remote part of the world. It was an annex to a house and it was a pretty terrible experience- very racist host with a colonial mindset. They were very prejudiced against the local people which was interesting to say the least.

I disagree
As someone that was low income for a while, single parent and moved for work,short term let's opened up a world of opportunity for me while I was sorting my credit score and struggled with normal let's. Not to mention holidays too.
Critically, it also gave me an option to stay across the country near a sick relatives hospice forhalf a year while I cared for them
Now that I'm sorted, earning £££, but can't afford to get on the property ladder where I live (London) I'm considering buying where I'm locally from (cheaper regions) and maybe letting it out in short bursts too as one of my options .
They've filled a gap in which I have benefitted the most when I was financially insecure. This gap still needs to be filled somehow.

I’d never stay in one and I’d love it if they were clamped down on here. I did look into them once in Santa Monica in LA cause no nice hotels were available. I remember a lot of the apartments advertised said things like “air bnb is not allowed so we will sneak you your key by doing X. If anyone asks say you’re a relative of the owner. Don’t do this, this or this.” Err no thanks don’t fancy creeping around all holiday!