Air BNB Should be Banned

[antelopevalley]

This started off as a lovely idea. A way for people to rent a spare room and show people around their home town.

It has since turned into a way for people to make money without adhering to the minimum legal standards that proper holiday accommodation has to meet. Even basic health and safety standards such as smoke alarms do not have to be met.

And it has created chaos, reducing the amount of accommodation for families to rent, pushing up prices, and hollowing out tourist destinations turning them into a Disneyland where few people live.

A ban would mean that anyone wanting to rent out holiday accommodation would have to do it properly. People doing it well could remain running their business but the amateurs who haven't a clue what they are doing would leave the market.

That is a good point. I would love motels in the UK like in the US. I stayed in one in the US. It was cheap, we had a living room, small kitchenette, and 2 bedrooms, Our car was parked outside and there was a breakfast room with a free basic breakfast. Much cheaper than hiring a cottage, but incredibly practical.

I disagree about American hotels. Even flipping Disneyland Hotel couldn't offer a decent sized affordable family hotel room with space for three kids and seperation between kids sleeping area and adults sleeping area. They all still offered the two queen bed, no space set up that every single other chain hotel in the world offers.
I'm asking for a triple bunk bed, in its own space, a fridge, some bowls and cups for breakfast, and maybe an integrated washer/dryer. Or, a clear booking option for adjoining rooms. Apparently too hard for the hotel industry to understand.

Airbnb, on the other hand, came up with a $400 per night four bedroom home with a pool. 10 minutes drive from Disneyland.

YABU. I use ABNB all the time. At least three times a year. I research the ones I want to stay in to make sure they meet any expectations I have. I’ve been using them for several years, and have never had a bad experience with them. Unlike Booking.com.

Short-term rental accommodations should have to follow the same
guidelines as hotels and other related businesses. There should be permits, safety regulations, disability compliance, taxes, and zoning consideration.

@Watchthesunrise - yes they exist everywhere in the USA and Canada .They are often called “efficiency suites” or “extended stay” suites. Google them.

Even the big chains offer them such as Marriott, Choice Hotels, or ICH group hotels such as the Holiday Inns and Staybridge Suites (some are in the UK) and a host of other hotel chains eg. Hilton owned hotels branded as Hilton Garden Inns, Hampton, Fairfield etc.

I’ve stayed in about a dozen of them with my family, including the Staybridge Suites in NYC and a Holiday Inn at Asbury Park in New Jersey plus in other States. Also in Canada (Whistler and Montreal). They do have a kitchenette (small kitchen) with a full size fridge freezer, oven and hob, microwave and slim line dishwasher, toaster, coffee machine etc. The sofa in the lounge converts into a bed (sometimes there may be a ‘Murphy bed’ which pulls down from the wall. There is a seperate bedroom with two Queen or one super King bed and bathroom too. Other configurations might have two bedrooms instead of a lounge with a sofa. There is always room to add an extra bed. There are usually swimming pools, guest cooked or continental style breakfast available on the ground floor and often a bar/lounge in the evenings.

I don’t know why they don’t really have many ‘efficiency suite’ style places in the UK but land costs are much higher here (hence houses are becoming smaller so builders can build more properties on a small plot of land). However I assume that many councils would put homeless families in them long term tbh.

Funny, just did a random search for Majorca for a week in June next year, over 1000 options come up. In what way is it banned?

Sorry I should have said it was banned in the capital, Palma, but even where we are along the coast it's definitely 'frowned upon' amongst locals - I don't know anyone who does it on the island, yet I know a few people back home in England who do it

No one is objecting to letting out a spare room - as per the original spirit of the scheme. Nor are there anyone on here objecting to letting out of granny annexes, converted barns or garden sheds. For that matter, letting student accommodation out during the summer when there are no students should be fine too, not to mention letting your house out while working abroad.

What they are objecting to is the removal from the local housing stock of entire flats or houses that otherwise could be used as homes.

How to solve it? If people want to let out the entire property as short term lets (say less than a month at a time) for more than a given accumulated number of days per year (six months for example) they should apply for change of use planning permission and run it as a proper business. Granting of permission will take into account the local housing situation, plus the potential for guests to become a nuisance. Obviously legal minds will have to look at closing potential loopholes (locking off one cupboard to claim that it's not the entire property being let). Compliance with fire regs etc. would be mandatory.