x
By using this website, you agree to our use of cookies to enhance your experience.

A spare room' website that has already disrupted the travel industry establishment has reportedly been taken over by London landlords using it as a cheap way to find short-term tenants.

Airbnb is a website, started in California six years ago, which allows individuals or organisations to list, discover, and book unique accommodations around the world, online or from a mobile phone. It has properties listed at all price sectors in 35,000 cities and 192 countries.

But analysis of the website by The Guardian newspaper shows that while the service aims to be a platform for individuals to let out their spare rooms, professional landlords and buy-to-let investors are swamping the site.

The newspaper's analysis of more than 13,000 Airbnb listings in London - which is by far the site's biggest UK market - shows more than 6,600 are leasing out an entire home or flat, rather than a spare room. And over 1,500 people listing their properties on the site have multiple listings, with 180 listing five or more properties across London.

No one from Airbnb wished to speak with LAT about the issue, but a statement from the company says that 330,000 UK guests signed up to the service in 2013. One third of UK users are aged 35 and older, and more and more families are also opting to travel using Airbnb with over 40 per cent of trips being parties of three or more.

The site's explosion of interest - and patronage by landlords - comes as the Deregulation Bill looks set to reduce the need for people to secure planning consent before renting out their homes on a short-term basis of, say, three months.

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles says: We have already reformed the rules on renting out your unused parking spaces, now we want to do the same regarding renting out your home for a short period.

It's time to change the outdated, impractical and restrictive laws from the 1970s, open up London's homes to visitors and allow Londoners to make some extra cash, he says.

Comments

  • icon

    This seems a bit dangerous to me, a fertile breeding ground for rogue landlords happy to exploit vulnerable tenants in an unregulated environment. Weve seen recently the rise of beds in sheds and pokey little one room places going for extortionate rent, particularly in London.

    • 24 June 2014 09:51 AM
  • icon

    It is exactly the same situation on similar sites; Landlords see it as a cheap way to find tenants, ultimately booting agents out of the equation. I'm all for competition but that clearly isn't what these sites were designed for. It seems like foul play to me. There should be more restrictions on the sites, especially in regard to cost as some may try to take advantage of people desperate for a quick move in or a short term stay.

    • 24 June 2014 09:49 AM
MovePal MovePal MovePal