Living next door to an AirBnB - how bad will it be?

[Allthesefolks]

Does anyone have any experience?

NDNs (semi) have announced they’re moving abroad and will rent out their house via AirBnB, is it going to be a nightmare? 😬

They’ve said they have a friend locally who will manage the lets and may be able to help if we have any problems, they’re generally a bit flaky and don’t seem to think things through though so I’m not putting much faith in this.

We’re not a holiday town although the house is centrally located so you can walk into town easily. It’s got quite a few rooms but doesn’t have any open plan areas/limited outside space so I’m not sure how attractive it’ll be to groups getting together for weekends away etc.

Are AirBnB useful at all if you have issues?

We were hoping to move in 1-2 year’s time so I’m worried that might be impacted too.

I agree that it's hypocritical to say you love using air bnb but would hate to live next door to one.

Thanks all, I am hoping it will be more of a residential let used by families rather than stag/hen dos based on the location and property type. DH is worrying more than me but we used to have a nightmare neighbour with noise in a previous place so is probably scared about that happening again.

Will take the point about asking if they could put a note on the listing about being a residential area.

@Allthesefolks I wish you all the best with it whatever you do decide. I would just be mindful of what I and PP have said. It’s idealistic to expect people to comply with it being a residential area; they simply lose inhibitions when on holiday/ when paying a lot of money.

There really is little support when things to go wrong (without kicking up a stink and investing loads of time with the council for years like in my case), so I do think to make sure you’re aware of a reasonable worst case scenario.

[quote Windingroad21]@Allthesefolks I wish you all the best with it whatever you do decide. I would just be mindful of what I and PP have said. It’s idealistic to expect people to comply with it being a residential area; they simply lose inhibitions when on holiday/ when paying a lot of money.

There really is little support when things to go wrong (without kicking up a stink and investing loads of time with the council for years like in my case), so I do think to make sure you’re aware of a reasonable worst case scenario.[/quote]
I couldn't agree more with above. Personally and from extensive experience I wouldn't be "hoping" that its all going to be fine. It doesn't matter what listing the owner puts on people when they pay to stay in someones house will generally do what they want the owner may say he cares but in reality he's making money from it so why should he, he also know that its very difficult to get anyone e.g. the council interested in addressing this!
There's loads of stuff about this on line I know people who have complained to Airbnb and the owner just went with another company instead.

Had an airbnb near us for about 12 months a couple of years back. The owner bought the house for that reason.
Some guests were good, others were noisy.
It got annoying during the week with bbq/garden noise. All the neighbours got fed up, airbnb owner wasn't interested.

In our small st, 3 of the men are bikers, so we all fot together and agreed a bike meeting and ride out Sunday morning. About 20 bikes would ride down the private track behind us at 7am on a Sunday to meet, all neighbours came out, breakfast baps, kids playing and all chatting, it became quite good fun. The airbnb received a few bad reviews because of it, along the lines of not good for relaxing weekend. Airbnb owner then became interested. She then rented it out to a lovely couple who bought it off her in the end.

Fought fire with fire. Bikers still meet up, but now 10am.

We used to but it was a zone 2 London apartment, they were absolutely beautiful listed-building apartments so it high occupancy.

Only two bedrooms so it didn’t attract big groups but the noise was bad and the behaviour was generally discourteous. Lots of rubbish dumped, bad parking, shouting in corridors at 3am, etc.

Hard to find a balance when they are on holiday and want to enjoy themselves but it’s also just a random Tuesday for you.

When I've stayed at air b and bs I've only gone for those that state they are not for batchelor or bachelorette parties. But then I'm quiet anyway.

The trouble is you are at the mercy of who ever they let to. I couldnt tolerate it.

Is there any recourse?

My next door neighbour airbnbs her small one bed flat if she is working abroad for an extended period (she contracts)

She is very picky about who she rents to, it is managed by one of her friends. I have their contact details but have never needed to contact them.

In fact I'm usually oblivious to whether there are tenants there or not.

There is another flat in the block which was bought by someone as an investment property to use as an airbnb. It was hugely problematic as it was being used for stag/ hen dos - noise/ vomit in the stairwell (it's really not that sort of block!), dumped rubbish etc. Under enormous pressure from the other leaseholders the owner converted it back to a standard rental property.

Tenants are likely to be families or people working in the area, so less chance of noise than from holidaymakers or stag parties.

From the sounds of the location, the owners might be better off renting to a long-term tenant. An Airbnb might appear more profitable based on a nightly vs. monthly rent amount, but they'd be vacancies between lets, cleaning costs between tenants and far more hassle due to managing check-ins and outs, tenant issues (bound to be some), etc. It might be worth speaking to the neighbours and pointing out some of the disadvantages of the Airbnb route vs. a long-term letting. Also advice them of the need to inform their lenders if they have a mortgage and house insurers (more likely to object to Airbnb vs. normal tenancy?).

@eightlivesdown

Tenants are likely to be families or people working in the area, so less chance of noise than from holidaymakers or stag parties.

From the sounds of the location, the owners might be better off renting to a long-term tenant. An Airbnb might appear more profitable based on a nightly vs. monthly rent amount, but they'd be vacancies between lets, cleaning costs between tenants and far more hassle due to managing check-ins and outs, tenant issues (bound to be some), etc. It might be worth speaking to the neighbours and pointing out some of the disadvantages of the Airbnb route vs. a long-term letting. Also advice them of the need to inform their lenders if they have a mortgage and house insurers (more likely to object to Airbnb vs. normal tenancy?).

They won’t have thought about any of that… will suggest it to DH, he talks to them more than me

I think they want the flexibility of being able to come back wherever which is fair enough but would make it harder to get more long term lets

We used to live next door to a badly managed air bnb that had stag parties etc coming regularly. It was awful. Next door have just let theirs for the summer and so far no issues, all families minimal noise. Both similar size houses just depends what type of groups they decide to let to

@Allthesefolks

Glad to hear some positive experiences, thanks

Unfortunately I think your property has just dropped in value Whatever issues you do/don’t have with the guests I’m sure having an Airbnb next door will be an issue when you come to sell for a lot of potential buyers.

Always check if there are restrictive covenants attached to a property. If the house is a Private Dwelling House then running an Airbnb is in breach of covenant and you can take out an injunction and claim legal costs/damages

One of our neighbours has let her house out as an Air BnB and it has not been a problem- mostly quiet couples etc. we live in a small village so I imagine that is reflected in the people who use it. The owner lives locally too.
Our other neighbours are far more of a problem!

This is timely so I can update a year on.

Its actually been great, I think I panicked about noisy drunken groups but it’s been mostly families and some construction workers. Also lots of periods of emptiness, it’s been lovely and quiet and we know as soon as the neighbours are back because their kids are running screaming up and down the stairs 😆