Airbnb in residential apartment building?

[anegada]

Should the landlord have told us?
We live in a 4 story Georgian townhouse. Each floor is a flat. It’s all owned by one guy.

The flat below us has recently become an airbnb. It’s only been a month but guests have left bags of rubbish in the corridor and on the steps outside the house. The communal door has been left open by accident a few times. Shouting in the corridor/doors slamming a lot. I’ve had people call my buzzer because they can’t get the key to work etc. It’s no massive issue but I guess there could be worse at some point.

Our main concern is that post for all the flats is just posted through the main front door. Which means there are lots of additional people having access to the post/deliveries.

We live in the middle of a city, so it’s to be expected I suppose.

That sounds awful - it's not safe for any of the other residents. What does your landlord say? Does he/she deal with them directly or through an agency?

In terms of cleaning up after them, I mean.

It's annoying as I can't find the listing on airbnb, but one of the guests told me it was an airbnb. I've no idea if the landlord deals directly with them, I've not seen a change over. I've actually wondered if the landlord even knows it is an airbnb!

I could have written the exact same post as you a couple of years ago - in fact I had to double-check the date to make sure an old post of mine hadn't been bumped.

I completely agree with you about the security aspect - it's a massive identity theft risk. I did ask for something like this to be put on to mitigate the risks https://amzn.eu/d/0TVXibp but the landlord declined and I had no way to force the issue.

The issues around people knocking on your door are far harder to mitigate; the words "do I look like a fucking concierge" may have crossed my lips once or twice.

In the end the landlord decided that Airbnb was quite profitable and sent me a S21 notice. My old flat is now on Airbnb for £200 per night, the greedy bastards.

Quite often this isn't allowed in the lease (assuming the flat is leasehold!). I had this before and I complained and it breached the terms of the long leasehold - might be worth looking at

I'd be mostly annoyed about parties and loud people, but I doubt there's anything you can do about it

Some cities (Glasgow, I think) are banning Airbnbs where there isn’t s a communal entrance. Check with your council.

Where there is a communal entrance…

However in OP’s case the property is owned freehold by one person. He could have tenants / AirBnB guests in all the flats, and so there aren’t actually any leases in existence.

I’m a tenant myself in a flat in a converted house that’s owned by two sibling freeholders, and there aren’t any leases.

Loads of Airbnb’s in our new build flats in Manc.

The overall managing agent turns a blind eye. Loads of the flats are empty as the rental market here is starting to tank.

I'd check with the landlord. It could be done by a tenant without his knowledge?

What a scum bag. I wish airbnb was banned

Have you looked for it on Booking.com. Lots of people use the term 'Airbnb' to mean a non-professional holiday let.

In London, flats that are put out for short-term let on AirBnB or similar need planning permission if they are let for more than 90 days per year. check if you have these rules and if so, you can report to the council.