Problems with holiday lets etc

[Orangesandlemons77]

We live in an old Georgian building which is converted into flats in a tourist area.

There is a management committee and regular meetings with the flat owners. It's all been fine until recently.

The ground floor flat started doing holiday lets a few years ago without telling anyone else.

Now the basement flat wants to do it as well and they are also doing a lot of noisy work which seems to include installing underfloor heating.

It's causing loud banging through the house and a neighbour thinks this has caused a crack in the wall to get worse.

We're not sure the lease allows holiday lets either. It's very old though from when the building was originally converted and holiday lets were not a thing then.

It does state some things which seems contradictory to holiday lets however such as everyone has the right to privacy and peace, flats should be for one family only and nothing should increase the insurance for the building as a whole.

Is there anything we can do to prevent them taking over the building with these holiday lets?

They have planning permission for the building work in the basement but that's a bit worrying as well

I own a holiday let and I’m part of the mgt committee. The owner can convert it to a holiday let unless there’s a clause preventing this, which there isn’t.

they are allowed to do any work on the property that they see fit. Work causes noise. The potential use as a holiday let is irrelevant and I’m not sure why you’re mentioning it in this context. They could be renovating it to live in it, you’d still get noise.

letting as a holiday let will not increase your insurance rate - the owner will need their own correct insurance - your buildings insurance will only become affected if a large proportion of the properties are regularly empty, so if lots become holiday lets. In that case, the owners will need to ensure they are regularly checked.

if they have planning permission for the basement, why is that worrying?

I understand you wouldn’t want to be surrounded by air bnb but I’m not sure there’s anything you can do.

The buildings insurance was already increased by the ground floor holiday let (they have agreed to pay the extra)

There is an impact on the other flats e.g. would it be more difficult to sell as others might not want the holiday lets either, also security risks with people coming and going etc within the building, noise impacts as well

These are people's homes and we have been here a long time. My neighbour is ill and it is causing them a lot of stress.

And although they have planning permission for the works it is not good if it is causing cracks in the building.

It's grade 2 listed and surprised it has been allowed, but apparently there has been some relaxing recently in planning permission for these buildings so that may be why.

The owner can convert it to a holiday let unless there’s a clause preventing this, which there isn’t

There are several, covering it being for one family only and insurance, nuisance / noise etc I did some research online and have been advised to contact the Leasehold Advisory service, so will see what they say.

then we will discuss it at the next management committee meeting

letting as a holiday let will not increase your insurance rate

We just did this and it has increased, in fact they were not going to insure the building at all but did based on the good record

So.

On the subject of noise, the noise is coming from building work. Whoever owns the property can do building work, the fact they are doing it to make it attractive as a holiday let is what’s bothering you. If they were planning to live in the property themselves, I suspect you’d be more sympathetic. If you ripped out and replaced your bathroom, this would create noise for your neighbours.

Is it more the idea that the holiday let guests might cause noise?

The insurance - the owners have agreed to pay more. That’s a thorny one, im
presuming they’ve agreed to that through goodwill. The next owner may not. Has it gone up specifically due to holiday letting? Ours went up by £2,500 at this renewal, and nothing has changed, it’s just the cost of insurance.

Our block insurance has conditions that apply only to flats used as holiday lets.

Regarding occupation, our flats have a pretty standard covenant saying they are for the use of one family or some such wording. Turns out it means ‘At a time’ rather than only one family can stay there.

If the head lease mentions one family etc like what the OP cited, holiday lets wont be allowed. There is legal precedence. Do a google search using that phrase.

I had a similar experience, getting approached by people that wanted to rent a property owned by a family member to turn it into airbnb. We looked extensively into it. Then found out a neighbour had done so some time ago probably not for long and it got shut down by the management company.

@Orangesandlemons77 stay firm and say no to both flats.

I will cut and paste what I found online. Still waiting for the leasehold advice service. Local councillor could not help. Said he is lobbying against them though.

Whether holiday lets (like Airbnb/short-term rentals) are allowed in a UK lease depends heavily on the wording. Courts have considered several types of clauses in residential leases:

• “Private residence only” / “private dwelling” clauses
• Often interpreted as prohibiting short-term or holiday lets, because such lets are more like a business/commercial use than someone’s private residence.
• Example: Nemcova v Fairfield Rents Ltd [2016] – an Upper Tribunal case where a flat lease saying it had to be used “as a private residence” was held to exclude short-term Airbnb lettings.
• “No business use” clauses
• Holiday lets are frequently treated as a business activity, so this wording usually prohibits them.
• “No subletting/assignment without consent” clauses
• Even if you can let the flat, you may need the freeholder’s written consent first.
• “No nuisance/annoyance” clauses
• Not a blanket ban, but holiday lets could still breach this if they disturb other residents.

What it means in practice

• “Private dwelling-house” – Courts in England & Wales have held that this wording requires use as someone’s home (not just occasional stays).
• Holiday lets / Airbnb – These are usually treated as a commercial arrangement, not genuine residence. Guests are transient, so the flat isn’t being used as a private dwelling.
• Case law: In Nemcova v Fairfield Rents Ltd [2016], a similar “private residence” clause was held to prohibit short-term lets, even if the flat was sometimes used as the leaseholder’s own home.

“Occupation of one family only” This restricts occupation to a single household unit. It rules out multiple unrelated groups at the same time (e.g. renting rooms separately), but also strengthens the interpretation that holiday lets breach the covenant — because a rotating series of guests aren’t “one family.” Likely outcome On the wording you’ve given, UK tribunals and courts have consistently found that holiday lets are not permitted. If the freeholder or management company found out, they could take enforcement action (injunction, forfeiture proceedings in extreme cases).

Practical reality

• In most cases, if a freeholder/management company becomes aware of holiday letting in breach of a “private dwelling” clause, they will act — usually starting with formal letters and, if ignored, moving to court action.
• Courts and tribunals have backed them up consistently on this type of clause, so it’s not a grey area.

Lease Restrictions Summary (Plain English)

1. Use of the flat

• Must only be used as a private home.
• Only one household/family can live there.
• Long-term residential letting (e.g. 6–12 month tenancy) usually acceptable.
• Short-term/holiday lets (Airbnb, weekend stays, rotating guests) are not allowed.

1. Insurance obligations

• You must not do anything that could:
• Void the building’s insurance, or
• Cause higher premiums.
• Holiday lets increase risks (fire, theft, accidents) and often invalidate or raise insurance. That alone is a breach.

1. Nuisance and disturbance

• You must not use the flat in a way that causes (or could cause) nuisance or annoyance to other residents or neighbours.
• Holiday lets can cause noise, disturbance, extra foot traffic, and security issues.

The insurance - the owners have agreed to pay more. That’s a thorny one, im
presuming they’ve agreed to that through goodwill. The next owner may not. Has it gone up specifically due to holiday letting? Ours went up by £2,500 at this renewal, and nothing has changed, it’s just the cost of insurance.

Yes, it was definitely the holiday let's. When DH told them, they were not due if they would insure it at all due to the change, but then said they would due to our previous good record. It had increased considerably.

It's hardly 'goodwill' they are making a lot of money out of these flats and of course should pay it, considering they caused the increase.

People are allowed to renovate their properties. It is noisy and disruptive but it is one of those things. The basement owners have sort permissions, if a wall that was already cracked has worsened you will need to talk them on that point.

The holiday let is a separate issue? Is it causing you a problem? An actual issue now or are you concerned that now more flat will be holiday lets and it changes the community of the building? I can understand your concerns but as you already given permission to the ground floor flat it will be harder to rescind. Do you really want to have to take anyone to court? It will be costly.

No, no-one gave permission to the one already there, they just went ahead and did it.

It does cause problems yes. Not so much to us, but the neighbour downstairs has had noise problems as they are closer.

If we decide to move, it may help with selling if the holiday lets are allowed. I suppose that is the only positive really.

I think the stress is also to do with DH being in charge of all the paperwork and management committee stuff and it gets more of a fuss with the holiday lets, also the letting agents don't bother the owners if there is some problem such as a leak etc, they come to us... we don't get paid anything for doing it and do it to keep costs down for everyone.

It's been fine for years but more hassle lately.

Another problem is the recent holiday let people want the whole building redecorated inside and out which does need doing but not urgently. It will be a big expense. So that all needs tackled.

They keep going on about things like return on investment whereas some of use just want to live here, as a family.

There are separate issues here. On holiday lets, there’s clear case law which indicates that holiday lets are in breach of any lease clause regarding occupation by a single family only, so permission can be refused on those grounds. As a management committee, you’d need to be prepared to follow through with formal legal action on breach of lease if your co-freeholders disregard the decision.

If there’s a crack in the building wall which is worsening then you need to have that surveyed. Planning permission simply means the local authority has given permission for the work to go ahead, planners aren’t responsible for assessing whether the structure of the property is sound, ensuring building work is being carried out correctly, or meets building regulations. The latter may be required if any work involves relocating a utility or changing the use of a room.

Communal area decoration will ultimately be for the management committee to hold a vote on and the majority voting in favour of the work going ahead. If the work does need doing then it’s in your collective interests to have it done earlier rather than later when it may have deteriorated further and be more costly.

It’s a thorny issue isn’t it.

when someone new moves into a small block of flats, especially a victorian house conversation. there is a sense of relief when the new people turn out to be lovely and want to sing from the same hymn book the house has sung from in years.

Non smokers can get a reduction in freehold insurance, as can long term residents, decorating the communal areas isn’t required so often when there aren’t suitcases on wheels being dragged and banging into skirting boards and doors, when people are holiday, they are on holiday even though your life is everyday life.

i understand where you are coming from, but it does seem once one becomes an air bb, they all do, until the place fallls under the required premium that holiday lets/air bb require

I was interested to find that in London they are only allowed to let as holiday lets for 90 days a year and beyond that they need to get planning permission for change of use from the council.

Not sure why that doesn't seem to be the case here.

With the crack issue, that is not us it is the flat below us, they mentioned it to us.

With the crack issue, that is not us it is the flat below us, they mentioned it to us.

You are all collective owners of the building in its entirety, so if there’s a crack in the building wall it’s a collective issue to assess and remedy - just as if the roof was leaking it wouldn’t only be for the top floor to sort out. Providing we’re not just talking about some minor cracking to plaster, a worsening crack in an old building is something I’d definitely want to have surveyed.