When Airbnb rentals become nuisance neighbours

Posted by John P. Bradford // September 18, 2016

Short-term sublets can turn into a nightmare, but a tribunal ruling offers some hope to long-suffering residents

I first realised I was living next door to a weekend sublet two years ago. Late one Saturday night I heard boys yelling and loud music, and the thumping against the walls was so hard one of my picture frames fell off and cracked on the floor. I presumed the neighbours had a teenager who was throwing a cheeky party while their parents were away. When it happened again the following weekend I assumed it was a repeat. However, a few weekends later it was girls yelling, playing what I recognised to be the true hymn of the hen party, You Can Leave Your Hat On. Suddenly it made sense: I was living next door to a sublet playing host to hen parties and stag dos most weekends.

Ive had men wrestling on the floor outside my flat, someone trying to kick in my door, and fights that have left blood smears across the corridor walls. Id refrained from complaining to the building manager or letting agents and tried to deal with the host directly.

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I had nothing against someone trying to make a little extra cash over the weekend. It was when it became clear the property was being entirely used for short-term rentals, and after my second phone call to the police, that I started complaining. I complained to the building manager, to my landlord, to the council. So far, nothing has been done.

Weekend sublets such as those offered on Airbnb and Booking.com have revolutionised holidays. But Im not the only person to have a bad experience. Paul, a teacher with a flat in Edinburgh, noticed people trundling by his apartment with luggage. Then he was kept awake by late-night noise. The irritation was that it was very difficult to get in touch with the owner via the Airbnb website. I had to pretend to be interested in renting it in order to send them a message, he says, and he claims that the problems have left people in negative equity.

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If you want to hear a real Airbnb horror story, how about the one involving the riot police who were called to a flat in Brixton, south London, after 150 people arrived for a party that turned into chaos? In that case, reported in the Times in May, residents had apparently called the police on several occasions to break up parties in the flat, which had been let through the website. One complained that a partygoer landed with a crash on to his balcony from above and knocked on his window to get back in.

In the First-Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber), which handles disputes over property and land, the residents alleged that the Airbnb host had breached several terms in his lease agreement, and the tribunal judge agreed, saying the defendant appeared to be using the property as a guesthouse. Its the first known ruling against an Airbnb host by the tribunal but probably wont be the last.

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Plenty more alarming tales can be found on AirbnbHell.com, a website dedicated to helping hosts and guests share their stories about the risks and dangers of using Airbnb.

Cal King, shows editor at TV channel Comedy Central, rents a flat in London next door to one that is empty quite a lot of the time, and then each weekend a different group of raucous people turn up and have parties. He is sanguine. In a way, I quite like knowing that even though theres pounding tropical house at 1am, chances are theyll be gone tomorrow.

Katie Gray, a barrister at Tanfield Chambers, says that in the first instance you should see if there can be anything done informally, for example by having a conversation with tenants or the host directly. If this does not work, she suggests you gather as much evidence as possible. Keep a diary of events, record the frequency of the lettings, and the dates and times of the nuisance.