Vandalism by neighbour's Airbnb guests

[JustFiveMinutesPeace]

It's emerged in the last couple of days that the landlords two doors down have decided to rent out their home to short term lettings guests (possibly Airbnb but I can't find a listing). We found this out after their guests were walking along the top of my garden wall, staring into my house, egged a neighbour's car and smashed glass outside.

I understand the neighbour delegated responsibility to an agent who put it on a short term lettings platform, who rented it to the council, who placed late teens/early 20s young adults with known behaviour problems and zero supervision. It's a nice area and not the sort of place you expect problems of this nature.

My biggest concern is that my livelihood is parked on my driveway: a street food van that's very conspicuous (people literally take photos when I'm minding my own business driving down the road) and a 50 year old classic so potentially very difficult to find spare parts for, especially if it was a windscreen. If it's off the road, I can't work, I'd have to cancel people's wedding catering (I'm doing two weddings today alone), and it would be devastating on multiple levels in the middle of the summer peak season.

If the neighbours short term lettings business results in my classic street food van being vandalised, do I have a claim against the landlord for the repair work and loss of earnings? I'm potentially insured for vandalism but not loss of earnings - and I don't want to claim and then have my premiums go even higher (£1200 this year). No point going after the guests; they won't have two pennies to run together.

I'm really very worried and don't know how to protect myself and my livelihood.

Expensive but would one of these work?
https://www.houseoftents.co.uk/industrial-tents/79866.html

We had a problem years ago on our quiet estate when a landlord rented a house out to students who turned it onto party central, and were very rude to neighbours who asked them to keep the noise down at night.

The residents association and individual neighbours contacted him whenever there was a problem with noise etc and he had them out in a couple of weeks. I don't know if it was because he wanted to be nice to his neighbours, was fed up of the hassle of the very frequent calls and letters, or thought that late night parties would result in damage to his property, but we got some peace.

Can you and your neighbours and residents do the same to this landlord - send complaints every time something happens, stress that they're causing damage to property so he'll worry that his own property will be damaged, call the police so there's a record etc. Complain to the council too, so he has to deal with them too.

It is appalling that vulnerable young people are being put in accommodation like this without proper support.

Does the landlord know about these things? Because it's highly likely that the landlord will be suffering more damage than this inside the house!
My parent have a small rental property and rent it to a lady who had several problems, including drug abuse and a very unstable lifestyle. The rental payments were covered by social security but the damage they did to the house was awful. Eventually they had to report to police and get her evicted. Absolutely everything had to be disposed of eg mattresses, sofa etc but also even the oven and fridge had been trashed. It cost them a lot more than the extremely modest amount of rental income they had made over the entire year to sort. They are now of the view they'll never rent to people on benefits again which is very sad. Whereas initially they felt it was a good thing to help out someone in need.

Contact the landlord.
I had no idea that the managing agent had put short term problem council tenants in the flat my children inherited and it put the neighbours through hell. We stopped it as soon as we knew what was going on.
Make sure that the managing agent is aware of every issue and make sure that all of the other neighbours do that as well. The landlord may as yet be unaware but the agent won't want to do lots of work for their fee so they will move along the difficult tenants if it's making more work for them.

Can you check with the council. It must now be a house of multiple occupation. Can you just do that in a residential area?
They should have applied for a licence in most cases if an hmo. As things like updated facilities may be needed. Also there must be a manager surely - are they doing their job - not if DCs are out all hours. Complain to council and maybe MP.

People can just rent their homes to the council to house people in on a long term basis. Next door to me do it. Why do you think it's an air bnb for? Hope it all works out.

I suggest making a preemptive call now to the landlord and children services at the council to say what’s been happening so far so a) it’s on the record and b) they can take steps to ensure the occupants behave themselves. Then if it does escalate and you are targeted, you could have a stronger case against both for loss of earnings/negligence/distressing impact etc.

It might be an idea to find out from your insurer exactly how much it would cost to get loss of earnings cover added to your insurance, so you can figure out how much it’s worth spending to mitigate the risk.

I see you have said an agent has let it to the Council? But did you get notice from planning regarding the application for change of use? I only ask because in a nearby village a large six bed house has been used as an air b and b for a year or so with hot tub, bar etc and large groups book it in the summer and the noise and parking is a nightmare (onroad parking only). They have been forced to apply for change of use retrospectively where the Council turned it down.

However, as it seems to suit the Council odds aren't stacked in your favour. This is the second time locally the Council have had to intervene with air b and b's destroying quality of life in previously peaceful residential areas.

There is a similar situation to yours locally as well where a Council outside the area applied for permission to house under 24's from troubled backgrounds in a small village house. Local residents did not of course see the application and it is causing real turmoil. Sorry I've not answered the question about your van and I agree you have to protect your business as best you can.

My daughter had this issue when a landlord handed the property two doors away to the council for them to use as emergency housing. She had a procession of groups of youths staying there for periods of a couple of months each time. They played loud music constantly, smoked weed, and generally trashed the gardens and house (broke windows etc). Nothing seemed to be fixed, as probably it was easy money for the landlord. He had tenants who didn't care anyway, and who weren't his responsibility. Presumably if he ever wants the place back, the council has to make good the damage.

My DD and her neighbours had to call the police frequently. Sorry, but I think you're going to have to have cameras everywhere and a hotline to the police and the council.

A tall fence and gates?

Why are people so fixated on the AirB&B mention??

I feel for you OP (I have a distinctive food trailer parked at home too) and understand all your concerns/annoyances.

if you can, speak to the landlord and the council dept responsible for housing these people. Ask them what happens if there is damage to local resident’s property? Get as many neighbours as possible to mention their concerns? And definitely have as much CCTV as possible.

We live in a nice middle class neighbourhood too, didn't stop both our cars being stolen. This is an infrequent but not uncommon occurrence where we live, precisely because of the type of area it is.
Cameras, alarms etc may act as a deterrent and will provide evidence if the worst does happen, but prevention is better than cure, so if I were you I'd be looking for somewhere else to store your van in order to protect your livelihood. You shouldn't have to, but you'll be kicking yourself if it does get vandalised.

An you find out more about the home ownership and whether they have a mortgage and who with?

There are sometimes restrictions on letting out mortgages homes.

Sorry I think you are crazy to have it on your driveway.

Can you get business interruption insurance in case it does get damaged?

www.abi.org.uk/products-and-issues/choosing-the-right-insurance/business-insurance/business-interruption-insurance/

Lots of councils are using air b and b and other traditional holiday lets to house vulnerable kids and their carers. I've had three on my caseload before now that were living in a Haven park. Very disturbed and in one case violent 15 and 16 year olds. So it does happen and alot more frequently than people are aware of.
I think all you can do is get some gates on your driveway op and down extra cameras.

I'd suggest speaking to the Council. It varies between local authorities but they may well have an anti social behaviour unit and as the young people are Council tenants (I think, going from what you said about the Council renting it) they will usually have some sort of behavioural aspect of their tenancy.

Definitely get in touch with council - confirm they are the tenant, are the occupiers monitored/have support I.e. who is responsible for them and once you know complain and keep on complaining, if it needs to be is it registered as an hmo. Call police as needed - I know, not life or death but you need support and evidence if damage occurs.

Some good news - I'm told the occupants have moved on and have been replaced by contractors of some variety. Hurrah. Let's hope they've learned a lesson and are both willing and able to properly vet future occupants.

On the downside the landlord has completely ignored my question about whether the agent he's mentioned is available to come out 24/7 (according to the landlord it's absolutely impossible for him to deal with issues personally because he lives a zillion miles away on Mars an hour away 🤨). He's also ignored my question about public liability insurance for his short term lettings business.

You are running a business, you cover this risk by increased insurance or better still paying for your van to be stored inside. If your business can't afford either of those options then you just have to carry the risk yourself. Sorry, but that's the reality of running a business.

It's not a matter of paying for it. There are zero options that are open to me which fit the criteria of being

A) able to fit the van inside - it's too tall for most places
B) having electricity (needs to be connected the night before an event else the equipment won't work)
C) having 24/7 access so I can, for instance, bring it out on a Saturday morning for a wedding and put it back Saturday night.

I researched all the options in my country and the neighbouring counties about 18 months ago when my then-landlord wanted to place a skip on my driveway. There was nothing. The work had to be delayed until after festival season. If I were to use the storage facility I use over the winter (access Mon-Fri 9-5), the street food van would have made it in there 2 nights out of the last 14.

I bought this house specifically because it has a driveway - if it wasn't for the street food van I would never have bought this house as there were cheaper, more central and generally preferable houses without driveways.

On the plus side I do park my 'daily driver' car across the driveway so that it cannot be stolen (wouldn't stop vandals of course, just being completely stolen.

I've looked into income protection type insurance in the past and was either turned down (mostly) or quoted stupid money because I have a health condition that fluctuates, but in reality I think the last time I had related time off sick was 2 weeks in 2015 for surgery. My travel insurance is literally 10x higher than DP's.

No insurance, of course, mitigates against some poor customer having no food for their wedding guests, leaving a shitty Facebook review, and damaging my reputation.

Expensive but would one of these work?
https://www.houseoftents.co.uk/industrial-tents/79866.html

Interesting idea, thanks, but unfortunately some googling suggests tents and marquees up for more than a month require planning permission. I'm also not sure we'd be able to get in the front door if this was on the driveway, and undoubtedly the normal neighbours would complain!

Can you check with the council. It must now be a house of multiple occupation. Can you just do that in a residential area? They should have applied for a licence in most cases if an hmo. As things like updated facilities may be needed.

A few years ago it was rented out to a group of sharers - by coincidence a friend lived there, and it was him who dug out the contact details for the landslumlord who attempted to illegally evict them. Aforementioned landlord doesn't know that I know that though - nor that I had a hand in stopping an illegal eviction by drafting a strongly worded letter for them! It was long before I bought this house. All by the by though.

Anyway, short term lets never require an HMO licence, and in our area 4 or fewer sharers don't require an HMO licence - which is how it was set up a few years ago. No planning permission or HMO licence needed for short term lettings.

Lots of councils are using air b and b and other traditional holiday lets to house vulnerable kids and their carers. I've had three on my caseload before now that were living in a Haven park. Very disturbed and in one case violent 15 and 16 year olds. So it does happen and alot more frequently than people are aware of.
I think all you can do is get some gates on your driveway op and down extra cameras.

It is, indeed, absolutely diabolical that kids are being treated like this.

It sounds like you work for social services - can you tell me if you hold some form of public liability insurance in case a looked after child commits criminal damage in the context of a lack of adequate supervision? I can't be completely certain which side of 18 they were, but there was no one telling them to stop doing what they were doing.

I'm currently bidding on eBay on an additional Ring camera to cover the driveway from another angle.

It's not a matter of paying for it. There are zero options that are open to me which fit the criteria of being
A) able to fit the van inside - it's too tall for most places
B) having electricity (needs to be connected the night before an event else the equipment won't work)
C) having 24/7 access so I can, for instance, bring it out on a Saturday morning for a wedding and put it back Saturday night.

I'm sorry but I don't accept that you have zero options. I run a business (coincidentally, spare parts for classic cars and commercials 😁). I rent a store (steel barn) on a secure site that would fulfil all your requirements. 1100 square foot. Tall double doors, water and electric available in the unit. The contract stated restricted access hours, but I negotiated the extensions that I needed without difficulty (weekends and early/late drop offs for loading/unloading for shows) This costs me a little over £800 a month.
My brother owns a 'classic truck'. He rents a warehouse for it which again would fulfil all your requirements.
Not sure where in the country you are where these things are apparently impossible? Just search for 'commercial storage / warehousing'.

Picture of my store (before I racked it) included.

I'm not sure you could pursue the landlord when individuals would be committing the crime.

At best CPS would take the case to court and the individuals you have described would be ordered to pay capped damages of £1000 (based on experience) no effort would be made to make sure it is paid and it would be at a rate of around £30 per month. Your insurance premium will take a massive hit. You need to store your vehicle in a secure compound (plenty of caravan storage facilities around) with appropriate insurance cover.

This doesn't sound like an Air bnb listing by the way. I Air bnb my house when I'm away and people are security checked by Air bnb, guests come with ratings and are generally very nice & considerate people i in my experience.

If they are young people with issues sounds more like a council run scheme or who knows. Anyway not very nice experience for you. I would contact the local council if there is disruptive behaviour however its being caused.

£800 per month!!! That's as much as I was paying for a two bed city centre flat with off road parking until last year. I pay £96 per month for indoor winter vehicle storage. £9,600 per year to park one vehicle is beyond my means.

I have no idea why anyone thinks I should be paying that sort of money so a neighbouring landlord can run a short term lettings business with yobs in there, with no public liability insurance.

I did look quite extensively about 18 months ago and couldn't find anything at all which fit the same criteria. I'm glad there's something nearby for you, I couldn't find anything. I googled, I asked around on Facebook car enthusiast groups, caravan storage, I even asked a few farmers I know if they had a spare barn ("no even our tractor just rusts outside in the rain" came one response). Seeing as my then-landlord was threatening to evict me over the issue, I looked very, very hard.

This doesn't sound like an Air bnb listing by the way. I Air bnb my house when I'm away and people are security checked by Air bnb, guests come with ratings and are generally very nice & considerate people i in my experience.

I wonder if your neighbours have the same perception as you.

In my last home, an upstairs flat was put on Airbnb. The occupants frequently knocked on my door thinking I was some sort of concierge, were noisy and on one occasion broke the front door lock, didn't tell anyone, and left it flapping overnight - other occupants stored our bikes in the hallway and I'm shocked our bikes weren't stolen. Worst of all - they had access to our post which all came into the communal hallway, putting me at risk of identity theft (bank statements, utility bills, I couldn't renew my passport for fear of it being stolen off the doormat).

Anyway, it appears the house two doors down isn't on the Airbnb platform, but I've tracked it down and it's being listed on a serviced apartment website.