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 ?

It is a political and planning issue, for sure. There are countries that manage it well and where every Air BNB first needs a permission to become one, and there is a max in every location. Commercial use is also planned for, Air BNB is essentially commercial use and as it is a new concept a lot of countries are just lagging in regulation. So I would complain to your local authority and tell them to manage the situation better. Max amount per apartment block and in each area and fees payable by landlords and overnight guest tourist charges etc.

A lot of hoteliers jumped at the government deal to house asylum seekers as they had suffered during covid - many of those have now been returned to the original owners rather damaged, and so have never re-opened.

Same thing happened in different circumstances where the government sequestered stately homes in WW2 for the army to use, very many were not fit for habitation afterwards, too expensive to fix up and got demolished.

A combination of covid and the need to accommodate asylum seekers caused such damage to the businesses and Air Bnb has filled the void.

We love staying in Airbnb's, there are so many great options and we always get somewhere with a kitchen. We are always very respectful. At the same time I 100% think they should be banned/much more strictly controlled in many cities and islands as they take housing away from locals. I wouldn't blame governments at all for doing that despite the fact that I love using them.

I do think though that living in a flat is often difficult whether the neighbours are Airbnbers or people there full time. I have had many bad experiences of flats without airbnbers, including people up at 5:30 being noisy getting ready for work, bottle bins being emptied vey early and smoking in the bathroom and all the smoke coming into our bathroom through the vent.

I hope the annexe is all up to date with fire regulations/insurance etc.

I use companies like this for my trips to France and elsewhere. It mirrors the original ethos of Abnb which is no longer true to its roots. Anyway it can be a bit hit and miss with the odd eccentric owner thrown in for good measure and a good laugh, but never felt any danger as I'd always book a room with a couple or a female living there. So far so good and so very affordable when I'm travelling on my own as the cost of hotels with a single supplement is outrageous.

https://www.homestay.com/france/arles/57300-homestay-in-la-roquette-arles

I’m always perplexed why certain small things need planning permission, but a person can rent their home out as an Air B&B without any restrictions needed. Same with dog boarding. I’m a big dog lover but with the hot weather and home working the incessant barking from one ‘new dog in the block’ is making me want to scream.

I’m honestly shocked Spain has not clamped down on this. It would be the simplest way to deal with over tourism. It used to be tourism levels could be controlled by the number of hotel rooms. Now it is a free for all.

I am so sorry you find yourself in this situation. It sounds horrendous and I hope you find a way out.
This thread has solidified for me the fact that I should not make the small property that I recently inherited into an Air BNB. I had been considering a but will now put it up for long term rental.

There are plenty of restrictions/regulations involved in running a holiday let (Airbnb is just an advertising platform like all the other holiday/cottage companies). There is a move towards licencing as they have in Scotland, France etc. This is very welcome as will weed out those people who are just cashing in with no care for the health and safety of their guests let alone giving them a great holiday experience.

I am so sorry this is happening to you, I've obviously heard about the problems in Spain caused by Airbnb. It's similar same here in the UK.

I have friends in a similar situation here in the UK. They've left their hometown (nice town in a National Park) because they can no longer afford to live there and there are simply no smaller flats or apartments available that are not Airbnb.

It's upsetting that people can no longer hope to live near family, friends and work. Sadly I don't think the current UK government care about anyone who lives outside London or bigger cities, so it won't change soon.

I just wish people would stop using Airbnb, but I guess the kind of people who do use it are the kinds of people who simply don't care about other people, local communities, and the immense amount of damage they cause.

That sounds intolerable OP. I'm sorry it's disrupting your life so much. Renters really do get a rough time.

Absolutely agree. It’s all air b&b round here and stags and hens all year round. Fucking shit.

But all the holiday let/cottage companies aren’t doing the same?! Airbnb is purely another advertising platform. But i agree that ALL holiday lets need to be far more regulated.

I live in Austria and the province I live in has really cracked down on this. Since 2018 you've had to apply to the equivalent of the planning office for a change of use to rent out properties for short-term lets and the vast majority of them are turned down. The government officials then go on Airbnb and chase up anyone letting out the properties illegally and fine them. There were tax changes too but I'm not sure what that involved. They've raked in shit loads of money and the effect of this has been far fewer new applications/registrations and very large numbers of deregistrations and those properties being rented out as normal long-term lets.
Renting out a room in the house you live in is still permitted as is renting out up to 2 self-contained units within your own home, but you have to be living in the property eg. the annexe a pp mentioned would be allowed.

Airbnb started out as a platform where people could let out a room and travellers could rent that room cheaply. I think that's what it should return to. It's got completely out of control, but local councils etc should have responded faster with new legislation long before it got to this stage.

I've only used it once and that was when I went to Toronto and the hotels were all €400 a night!! I found a lovely room in someone's house (even that was €100 a night). A friend of mine rents out a room in her house and that works well. I think that kind of thing is ok but buying up flats and houses is not.

This sounds amazing and something other governments could learn from.

People are always going to act in their own self interest. If one person chooses not to use airB&B for ethical reasons someone else will rent it anyway. Regulation is needed and long overdue.

Oh here we go let’s blame immigrants. They get the blame for everything else so why not?🤔🙄OP has said they aren’t in the uk.

A lot of people are just selfish little shits and don't care about their contribution to destroying communities. So long as they get their holiday. Because they neeeeeeed it. I say fuck them and the holiday boat they came in on. As you say, what te fuck is wrong with a hotel?

@DrSeuss suggest you read up on the renter reform bill and realise why landlords have left in droves and going air b and b

Nonsense. People don't go to hotels because they want to self cater, or want more living space or more choices of location. I've never considered a week's holiday in a hotel. I'd far rather rent self catering.

OP I am sorry. That does sound rough. Can you put up signs asking people to be quiet as the arrive and leave? Can you campaign for the rental owners to put down thick carpets so the clatter is less noticeable?

I’m so sorry OP - how awful for you. If you’re in or near Barcelona, I’m sure the current Catalonian government are really anti-Airbnb.

Personally I'd bang on the doors of the noisy fuckers really early in the morning and complain about their noise. Get in their faces and make their stay as unpleasant as possible.

Aim for them to leave bad reviews so less custom, more peace for you.

Sounds really hard, I think there is backlash around Europe on AirBnB, in Italy they’ve tried to ban remote access, so owners or their agents have to physically be present to meet tourists rather than leave keys in random places. In Spain they’re trying to licence apartments to limit the numbers, but it’s still a huge problem. I hope things get better for you. We need people to be able to live in cities, they can’t just become museums.

That said I use them, I try to be ethical and make sure they meet local regulations and am respectful to people living nearby. People seem to go on holiday and forget their manners.

I live in a very touristy area of London and London has more tourists than any city in Spain. There are a few airbnbs but they haven’t taken over because there are restrictions in place. There is a limit to the number of nights they can be rented out for which makes it far less desirable as a business model. They are also banned in a lot of blocks of flats.

You need to write to your local government and whoever owns your property. They are the only ones who can do something about it.

Yes,two hotels near to where I live have been too. One is for men awaiting trial,I have this on very good authority. There seems to be at least 4 or 5 security staff outside 24/7 and I'm told several more inside. Only men reside there. The othe hotel has mostly men staying there and a few women and children, very little security.

We've used holiday rentals for years, long before Airbnb came about and would never ever use a hotel again.

There are rules and regulations but you need to see who's the owner of the property and who if anyone they're renting through. Airbnb have become a catch all term for holiday rentals but there are loads of companies and private rents too.

Your issue is with the landlords not the idea of rentals.

It would be bonkers for you to rent an Airbnb for permanent housing, you need to get a private long term rent.