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 ?

We've done self catering holidays and never used Airbnb. There are loads of reasonable lets with checked properties, regulations and the owners paying tax.

there have been self catering cottages/apartments forever. I went with my family in the 70s, 80s and 90s to self catering holidays. They were just advertised in different ways.

I don't necessarily find a self catering place on airbnb, other platforms too.

Yes, that's how we went on holiday as a family in the 60s and 70s. Hoseasons "chalets", self catering bungalows in a holiday park. We loved it!

Before AirB&B people would book an apartment through a travel agent or direct with a company like Thompson's or Intasun, or yes, Holiday Villas (who I worked for!). Portugal in particular had mainly apartments and very few hotels back in the 1980s. In Spain and Greece too you booked a studio apartment for two people ( no separate bedroom) or a bigger one and paid a supplement if it wasn't fully occupied - expensive unless there were eg six of you in a two-bed apartment ( two on a sofa bed in the lounge). But at least you had a kitchenette and access to a (shared) pool. There were also aparthotels with a front desk and often a small supermarket too.

at the same time strongly agree there should be regulation. Where i live there is also a housing crises and we really struggled to find a place to live. But its scary and precarious renting, really can't wait to be able to buy our own place.

There are regulations in place here by the city councli - owners have to apply for planning permission to rent out for short term lets for longer then 3 months per year. Not sure if owners abide by this or if the city has a way of clamping down on owners.

There is a legitimate and valid use of short term self catering properties, the problem is when it is allowed to run amok with no regulation.

Btw - this year we are going on holiday for all of 3 days.

Ridiculous, you are suggesting that you have forced Air BNBs on to a community because of the behaviour of past renters who you had a financial contract with and were profiting from. I'm afraid, being a Landlord is a choice and has financial risks like any business! You are a good example of why we need more regulation in this area as we cannot rely upon the good will of Landlords. I really do hope that in my City they bring in this zoned approach and start putting pressure on the government to look at the problems this is causing for Housing in the UK as a whole. I was pleased to read that in my City by the sea, a seafront Leisure centre is not going to be luxury apartments that would inevitably be sold to foreign investors who would use as Airbnb or charge extortionate rents, thus further ruining the community, it is to remain a leisure centre and be refurbished. A win for residents of the city who pressurised the local council and need facilities because they actually live here!

These self catering holidays in the 70’s,80’s and 90’s weren’t in residential buildings though were they ? On the whole the ones you could book through Thomas cook were purpose built for holidays ? That’s why they had reception desks and snack bars etc. Tbh it would be easier to have a reception desk and security at least there would be someone here to keep on top of things.

Yes, they were purpose built, with a reception etc and didn't disturb anyone else who was trying to work etc.

The asylum seekers that are housed in hotels are waiting for their claims to be processed. A massive backlog has arisen in the last decade or so. The focus is now on clearing this backlog; I am no Labour apologist but I think they are processing more and at a faster rate than had been the case under the previous government. Once their claims have been processed, they move out of the hotels.

I hope this helps to see how things work.

I think it needs to be banned in any areas with ‘a lot ‘ of tourism - I would ban it here in Bath, in fact most of the south west - or put a limit on it in terms of numbers- you have to be licensed and no more than xxx number with a radius etc - same in Lake District, London, Devon/cornwall etc - it’s an absolute menace and given that renting is needed by many due to house prices in many parts of the country, we simply can’t afford for potential rental stock to be depleted in this way . Mind you I would ban second homes too

Exactly.

Many of the properties on Air BandB are also advertised through other companies too. I am staying in one shortly that was on several platforms.

Oh yes, all those strong men leaving the females and small children of their families behind in dangerous countries deserve our sympathy 😩

Not necessarily. I have holidays in self-catering places for decades, and have done as a child. We never stayed in somewhere purpose-built, but always in a house in a street, or on farms etc.

I could be wrong, but it now feels like bed and breakfasts are really pricey. I used to use them sometimes for a weekend away, and could afford them then. It is hard to find anywhere affordable these days. I don't need anything fancy, as I am only sleeping there, but the prices seem to have become really high. Hotels aren't my bag; too much fussing around for me. I also like to cook my own food! Thus holiday rentals are what I want.

I have no idea about what you can do as it will depend on the local system.

However I think air bnbs are awful in so many ways and should be much more closely regulated if not banned.

I’m sorry you are suffering, but privately owned holiday cottages / apparent have always existed. They are on booking.com and many other company websites as well as Airbnb. Airbnb is just an advertising platform. The difference is the massive increase in holidaymakers. Especially city breaks, which have a far longer season than beach holidays and resorts with pools.

There are loads of homes on right move for buyers. The shortage of homes are the ones where people need to rent. It's a buyers market out there. But MN seems to think there should be no landlords either and presumably all those who need private rentals should just live in a tent in a park somewhere. If there were no Airbnbs there would only be b&bs, hotels and holiday parks. Which aren't appropriate for some. So leave the Airbnbs alone....

So glad you're in a minority. Many of my friends, family and acquaintances use Airbnb regularly. And love them. Never had a bad experience.

Hotels are not an alternative to self contained self catering properties. I sleep very badly and so my partner and I have separate bedrooms. We need two bedrooms whenever we go away.

That doesn't mean that I have no sympathy for those who are affected by the anti social behaviour of people on holidays.

There does seem to be a huge rise in city break type holidays with people going away for just a few days rather than one annual holiday so more people can afford to travel more often.

They are not in a minority at all. People who live in these areas are absolutely fed up of it and the negative impact on the permanent residents and community. I literally gave an example above of this frustration galvanising local residents into taking action and objecting to the leisure centre being made into luxury apartments, end result - it will continue to be a lesiure centre serving the needs of local residents!

Why should a whole area be Air BNBs, destroying communities that have lived there for years, unregulated and circumventing the business rates that other small businesses have to pay. Putting a strain on the local rubbish and recycling as services that permanent residents like me pay incredibly high council tax for. I don't want Air BNB neighbours in the local flats, houses that are using up all the parking on the Street at the weekend, having noisy get togethers like it is a Karaoke night at a hotel bar!

@Livelovebehappy do any of your friends rent and live in areas full of them? I’ve used them and only had 1 poor experience- doesn’t mean I don’t disagree with them on a societal level , or at least not being registered as businesses and restricted in numbers - I am not against people letting rooms in their homes out or self contained annexes on the owners property - I am against whole units being let out

When I did my walkabout through Europe in the mid 90’s I stayed in hostels and B&Bs. The B&Bs were absolutely in residential neighborhoods the hostels not as much. The difference between the B&Bs of old and the new Airbnb is that the owners used to be on site and you had breakfast catered.

Ha.. and to find them you got a book(!) that you shlepped around in your backpack that you would pick a random listing and call first thing when you got off the train. The most popular one was “Let’s Go!” (It was lovingly referred to as “Let’s Lie!” because as you can imagine some of the info was pretty dodgy or out of date because it was published once a year) and you would buy one for every country or region that you planned to visit.

I kind of miss the B&Bs that I stayed in. Cheap, clean, a good breakfast in the morning and usually a granny running it that would make you a little homesick but would wish you well on your travels as you left.

I also once stayed in an airbnb that was clearly the owners only residence, they had obviously worked out this was a way to finance their holidays.

They're needed. We are always being encouraged to holiday in this country so need somewhere to stay in the places that are attractive to holiday in. Many of us don't want hotels bnbs or caravans. Before Airbnb there were always places to rent via booking.com, holiday cottages etc.