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 ?

You need to write to your government / council leaders and tell them. We all do. It's disgusting that ordinary people's lives are made significantly worse because a random american company, and a few very wealthy property owners, want to make yet more money. The impact it's having on property rent and availability for permanent residents is awful, and in return for giving up local homes an area gets a bunch of obnoxious holidaymakers who rarely offer any positive benefit to help make up for it. The users often don't support any local businesses like restaurants, and so don't contribute anything at all to the local community. Most just buy supermarket food, and then spend all day cluttering up the beach without paying a penny to the town they've inflicted themselves upon. Rather than using a hotel, or even dedicated rental property which has to pay corporate tax, they pay some homeowner who very likely has a string of properties - and there are many resources available to teach them how to pay no tax at all on their airbnb income. So why tf is it allowed?! For some reason our elected officials seem to be under the impression that we just have to sit back and allow various yankee billionaires to make vast fortunes by coming up with new and creative ways to make us ever poorer and more miserable. It's up to us to tell them that we really, really don't. We can grow a spine and tell these vultures to get the hell out of our continent, at least until such a time as they are willing to offer adequate compensation.

Just wanted to express sympathy, really

I was horrified when the whole Airbnb thing took off. It was such an obvious problem and here we are.

There are so many things about contemporary life that really annoying and problematic and I was feeling a really deep sadness about all of it today.

I live in a flat and it's like people just don't hear noise. The constant door banging etc. They're all very nice people. My previous flats I've been lucky as well - very nice neighbours.

There was actually a group of us chatting about this in the garden the other day. Most people were very okay with it - they just think every day life makes a noise and what can you do. I wish I could take that attitude.

I think probably noise grates on people like you and me much more than it does on others. And it's quite grim having to wear headphones all the time.

sorry, I'm digressing. But yeah, I really feel for you. And it must be particularly hard when you're watching a nice area be spoiled.

Oh that actually makes more sense now. I didn’t realise the air bit related to an airbed. I thought it was to do with air travel, which didn’t make sense!

To the OP, I agree they can be a scourge in popular tourist places, I do feel for you and I’m glad I don’t live in a touristy part of the UK.

@OtherS makes good points - the people who stay don't contribute as much to the local economy as other tourists. Yet more profit for property owners, stress and inconvenience for many others.

I am so sorry OP. I’ve been there. We were quite happy and settled with our kids being brought up in our last home for ten years, but we shared the building with three others who slowly became air bnbs and student housing. Having to sell up was a bit sickening at the time.

OP my home town in rural Scotland has been almost completely destroyed by AirBnB, something needs to be done.

Nobody can afford to rent or buy here anymore because holiday lets drive up the price ( landlords can get in 3 months what they would get for a year of regular tenants without any of the hassle of having long term tenants). There is a job ad for a radiologist in the hospital, they can’t fill it because any interest parties cannot get accommodation nearby. A major local restaurant just closed because they couldn’t get enough waiting staff because people on minimum/living wage most certainly cannot afford to live here. It’s extra galling given that so many of these holiday lets are ex council houses sold on the right to buy scheme.

And of course people staying in Air BnBs just buy a big shop in their local Tesco before coming up, maybe top up their wine supplies from our Tesco but they certainly don’t go to bars and restaurants here and put any of that cash into local businesses.

And before any racist yobs swoop in, this is not an immigrant issue. We have few immigrants and zero asylum seekers or refugees.

It makes me dreadfully sad.

@itsafan

• *Have you complained to the ayuntamiento ?
  I used to own a property in Spain (NOT Airb&b), & the rules for renting it out were very strict. A denuncia was acted upon very swiftly.

Similar issue in my area. During covid times there was a huge boom in air B&Bs and serviced apartments. The sea front had loads of affordable flats and houses rented by local residents. Most of them are now holiday let's, private rents have soared, huge homelessness problem, hotels are being used for vulnerable homeless people as the temp accommodation and hostels are full with huge waiting lists, those not classed as vulnerable are left to sleep on the streets.

This is something your residents committee and local government should be dealing with - they must be aware? I am so sorry about the impact it's having on your life.

We actually tried to book an apartment in Palma a couple of years ago (not AirB&B, but Vrbro - which is basically now using the same model as far as I can see) and the owner had to write and say the resident's committee had clamped down on short term lets so we could no longer stay. I was actually quite pleased not to be disrupting someone's life and we found a purpose built apart-hotel place, which was fine. Even though you are "only" renters (you have a right to a peaceful home whatever) you could appeal to them - I am sure others are suffering too. Good luck whatever you chose to do.

For what purposes are hotels in Spain closed?

Absolute rubbish OP! Total tosh! Unless you are buying a one million properly you do not need 100k deposit.

Look for somewhere cheaper that isn’t 1,000,000!

The ayuntamiento of the town we've owned a flat in since 1978 has recently approved our building management's decision to ban airbnbs. It's taken 3 years to pass. They're continuing to allow them in the new buildings which have gone up in the outskirts of the town but our central location (historic district) is disallowing them building by building.

Can you hold on for a while longer? If the landlords in your building don't vote for a ban, it's possible that your local or regional laws might change.

That's terrible and unfair on you OP.

I’m Spanish and in my city is virtually impossible to get an Airbnb license - specially in flats. This is the rule now, I’m pretty sure it’s going to get to your city sooner rather than later

I feel your pain. I stay in central Edinburgh where I have air bnbs everywhere and now it's the festival:(

I do understand the Airbnb problem. But there’s a lot of regulation now in Europe.

And tourist noise & behaviour and sky high rents in summer, & buildings dominated by holiday lets was always an issue in holiday areas long before Airbnb.That’s the price to be paid for living in a tourist zone. Just ask people in Cornwall or Cote D’Azure etc.

Couldn't agree with you more @CosmicScouser. Since SM - TikTok, Influencers, insta and then lockdown has sent people into a frenzy. I hate it. It's the same abroad and I loathe air b and b on principle. Spain and now France are clamping down on it. Good.

I LOATHE what tourism is doing to so many beautiful places and cities all over the world. I love travel as much as the next person but we all act as though it’s some sort of inalienable right.

Corporates like Airbnb and, indeed, holiday and short-term rentals have absolutely decimated so many communities. I believe homes should be first and foremostly for people not profit and there definitely needs to be MUCH more regulation, globally, on preventing over-tourism and the destruction of communities.

Look at what tourism is doing to places such as Venice and some of the Greek islands like Santorini. Hoardes of people jostling for a photo, literally squashing one another for their Instagram moment. It’s hideous.

I watched this film a couple of years ago that puts the subject of the global housing crisis front and centre: make-the-shift.org/push/

And what purpose would that be?

I had this issue in a city centre flat in quite a desirable tourist location. The noise wasn't the issue but I got tired of coming home to find random strangers standing at the entrance with suitcases. I had people trying their key in my door because they'd got muddled with the house number/floor level. It made what should have been lovely residential building feel transient and unsafe. I moved.

Good, Fabulous news!

Well, we've been reading for a while what a massive problem it is in Spain. I had thought they were really clamping down on it.

I live in Cornwall and it's a problem here too. Stupidly they have decided to penalise second home owners, but not people who run holiday accommodation as a business.

A friend had a second home near me which she sold several years ago. She was really pleased to sell it to a young local couple to live in. Recently she found out that they converted it into a holiday let, when she found it on Airbnb!

Sending sympathy.

I went to a talk on housing a couple of years back and the chap running it said then that Airbnb were causing some of the housing problems in the UK. He also said that some other countries had legislated around Airbnbs because they were causing such issues.

Become a politician and then ban shorterm lets

We use airbnb for the extra bedrooms, peace and quiet (we only rent houses or top floor apartments) and the laundry facilities. Ideally, we would much prefer to go to a resort where we would be catered for and have access to lots of amenities but they are extortionate and expect a family of four to sleep in one room! How is that a holiday? My husband snores and my twins wake up super early! So airbnb it is! I do think if hotels were more affordable, airbnb would lose some of its appeal.