Air Bnb has ruined my life

[itsafan]

There is literally no way out of this situation 😢 other than for us to give up our jobs and relocate in the hope that we can find new jobs and a place to live. There are literally no other rentals available in the area even if we could afford the rents. A mortgage is out of the question as we would need at least a hundred grand deposit.
There are at least 1000 properties listed on Airbnb within a 5 mile radius, many of them would be ideal but the rents on them are extortionate and aimed at tourists we are talking at least a grand a week.
We have lived here for years in a residential complex (well before Airbnb and booking even got popular) we have jobs here and friends here and a life here. It is on the whole fine for 9 months of the year mainly local people living around us who all respect that we are living and just trying to survive.
Then the Airbnb people turn up and every week it’s new people above us below us next to us. The noise is horrendous and probably the worst problem. Being woken at all hours with people rolling suitcases along floors, lifts going up and down, shouting in the corridors and doors banging. It just goes on and on like this for months.
My anxiety with it all is now so bad that I’m having to take medication. The noise just feels constant.
Do people even realise when they are booking Airbnb that these are people’s homes that they are disrupting? Why don’t people go to hotels anymore ?
So yeah there is a huge housing crisis due to the airbnb situation and I’m just a small person in a situation that I can’t change other than to leave somewhere I call home. I suppose my AIBU is am I being unreasonable to feel like a company has ruined my life ?

Why the personal attack on a poster. It’s very demeaning and adds no weight to your discussion

What happened to the mothers, daughters and grans in your story? Did they leave them behind on the scorched earth?

@DrPrunesqualer @DH001 has been goady on the discussion they are not adding anything to it. Telling me to move my family to another country is not very helpful is it ? They wanted a reaction and they got one.

I didn’t tell you to move

I simply pointed out you can’t blame tourists. You do seem a bit obsessed with blaming them. Challenge your local authority, that’s who’s to blame.

Think you don’t like people not agreeing with every word you say. It’s called democracy.
My comments have been constructive. Apologies I didn’t swoon all over you with pity….

Think you’re not happy getting deleted.

That’s on you really

Maybe you should make the Airbnb guests stay a little unpleasant.There are plenty ways to do that .just copy what they do .

My original reply that got deleted was to @DH001 not to you @DrPrunesqualerand it got deleted because I swore when I called them out. They told me to just move (like it’s that easy) and replied to where ? And they said Bolton and I replied saying are there jobs for my Spanish speaking partner in Bolton then and then called them a name because that’s what I think of them. I don’t expect any pity from you at all. I don’t mind that my comment got deleted it made me look an idiot like you say so it’s better it did. The good thing is my original comments about over tourism and the devastation it is causing to many communities still stand, if just one person reads them and changes their mind on Airbnb etc then that’s a good thing.
If you read my update you will see that the community I live in and the government are taking some steps to ban short term holiday rentals anyway due to the lack of housing for local people.
I had a moan about things in the heat of the moment after another restless night. A llot of people do this on Mumsnet. I blame the tourists for their awful behaviour sometimes, not for where they have booked to stay because they can’t afford anything else.
The overwhelming majority of comments realise that there is an issue and were helpful and actually re framed my mind into doing something about it.
The thread has probably reached a natural end now. So I won’t keep commenting.
Thank you for your comments and to the people who are going through similar I hope things change for you soon

I’m aware your deleted comment wasn’t to me. That’s why my subsequent post reads as such.

I hope your local authority can find a solution that keeps everyone, locals and businesses etc, happier moving forward

Yes I am talking about the UK. Don’t really know Spain’s legislation.

You did mention this though which I think is quite relevant

*itsafan · 04/08/2025 08:07

And if they don’t want to rent them then they will sell them and then supply will outstrip demand and the prices to buy will come down for locals too

This is exactly what the UK government and a lot of people thought when the legislation that BTL landlords could no longer put mortgage interest on their properties against tax .

It was surprising the amount of people who seemed to think that the resulting cost of this legislation would be paid by the Landlords themselves.

Instead some landlords evicted their tenants when their lease was up and turned their place into a holiday let, getting a holiday let mortgage where they could put the interest element of their mortgage against tax

Those that stayed in BTL passed on the cost of this legislation to their tenants when their lease was up + raised the rental cost even further as there were less rentals and more people wanting to rent
If you didn’t pay the new rent then someone else would.

Very few rental properties ever became available to FTBs. Those that were sold more than likely were put into a property auction where FTB’s could buy if they didn’t need a mortgage

Without Airbnbs in a tourist area there won’t be as many tourists so some businesses will fail or not need as many staff and as a consequence some of those local workers living on the beach won’t have jobs

The hotels rooms in the areas will be like the BTL landlords houses. Demand will outstrip supply and hotels will become more expensive but unlike the tenants who need a roof over their head in a particular area for work/schools etc if hotels put their prices up too much the tourists will go elsewhere

What I am trying to say is that whilst you are thinking that goverment and local governments (even in Spain) can do X Y and Z and that means the owners of these properties will do A B and C, the chances are they won’t do as you think and it could end up costing you more or putting you in a worse situation

Firstly, the people who now rent out their property as tourist rents, yes, many did rent them out at normal rents. Greed is a big factor. The ones who wont are often those who bought the places to rent out. They are not just big companies (though that is more common in big cities) they are private indivuals who have bought for this purpose, including many foreigners. They have taken reasonably priced properties and rentals off the market. Sadly a hugh percentage of these rentals have no tourist license, pay no tax and are, effectively, functioning below the radar. Their tenants however are often a hugh disturbance for others in the building, spend little money out of the house and use the public spaces and facilities.

We had tourism long before Airbnb and the like existed. Villages and towns thrived and finding staff was never a problem. People made good livings from it and tourists filled our towns and villages every summer. Now it is reversed and people living in tourist areas have a poorer quality of life, physically and financially and Airbnb style accomodation has a lot to do with it.

Secondly, camping is fine for a two week cheap holiday. It is very different being forced to live and work in one, because all available accomodation is rented out at crazy prices per day.
Thirdly, over tourism is not good for local businesses as you seem to think. Butchers, fishmongers, bakers, grocery stores, hardwear stores and normal clothing stores which people need to live are closing down and being replaced with tourist tat stores that often close in winter, if by the coast. It makes these areas unlivable and then people complain that they cant find staff.

No you're not being unreasonable, I really am sorry. I can't even begin to imagine how you feel!