A tenant has allegedly confronted an unnamed lettings agent over being “pushed out” of his long-term tenancy to make way for a more lucrative short let.
The BBC reports that some students at St Andrews in Scotland say they have been under pressure to quit their accommodation for the duration of The Open golf tournament, which started yesterday.
The event anticipates that some 300,000 people will attend, yet St Andrews itself has a permanent population of just 19,000. The BBC says some Airbnb-style short let accommodation is fetching up to £1,000 a night.
The BBC cites one student - Wilson Jones - who confronted his letting agency over a clause in his tenancy agreement.
Jone”s says: The contract that my flatmate and I signed said we were to vacate this place from the 9th to the 19th July. Over the course of the last seven months we were reaching out to our letting agency about how exactly that was supposed to work. The only response we really got was that we should just leave our things in the house and strip the bed.
"My landlord didn't care where I went, and they were going to make a whole lot of money out of it, presumably. It was ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous."
The BBC says Wilson's landlord claimed they would be staying in the property themselves during he 10 day period.
The story also quotes activist group Living Rent. Its spokesman Barry Will says: "We're seeing landlords charge extortionate rent increases over the period of The Open. We're seeing landlords attempting to evict tenants across town. Really, what we're seeing is tenants across St Andrews being let down because of a golf tournament coming to town.
"The Open means a lot to St Andrews, but it shouldn't come at the cost of fracturing our community, and that's what we're trying to fight against."
Recent figures collated by the personal finance website Money showed Airbnb owners charging up to 600 per cent more to stay at their properties during major events such as the Glastonbury Festival and the British Grand Prix.
The average cost of an Airbnb in the same area was taken for the week before the event, as well as during the event period itself, to demonstrate the difference in price, and reveal where Airbnb hoists have hiked charges the most.
The Glastonbury event - headlined this year by Paul McCartney and Billie Eilish - triggered rises of Airbnb properties in the area by 221.6 per cent, according to the Money analysis. And the Formula 1 British Grand Prix at Silverstone caused Airbnb prices to soar by 235.5 per cent. An average nightly Airbnb can be seen to jump from £186 to £624 during the event.
Airbnb itself recently issued a statement drawing a distinction between what it called “buy to let speculators” and genuine hosts letting out a spare room or an already-empty property.
“There is a big difference between buy to let speculators and Hosts who occasionally share their homes on Airbnb to afford the rising cost of living” says the platform, which describes itself as “an economic lifeline for thousands during one of the greatest economic challenges in decades.”
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I see two problems here... First, it's not the letting agent that makes this decision, it's the landlord. However, the landlord's decision is likely to get the agent a bad review, damage reputation and probably cost the agent money through dealing with it. Second, the agent must be professional in it's management of landlords. If the agent is bending over to the landlord's immoral and non-compliant requests, the agent must say no. We're letting agents. It's a tough job and extremely professional. If you asked your solicitor to do something wrong, they'd say no. If you asked your accountant to do something immoral, they'd say no. If you asked your mortgage broker to do something non-compliant... NO! Why do some letting agents feel they're any less professional or responsible? Not criticising the agent, I feel sorry for them but my advice would be... You are the professional, you are the managing agent. Therefore, you are responsible for advising the landlord what you should and should not do with conviction and assertiveness.
So, the students saw this agreement and 7 months ago but opted to sign it anyway. Now they want to make a fuss? Moral or not on the landlord's side, the tenants put themselves in this situation which could have been avoided 7 months ago by not agreeing to the contract. Scary that these tenants at university may one day be in important positions!
I think you have to start with the landlord/agent for putting that clause in the contract. Young tenants know little of property law, likely had limited choice at the time and generally by that nature are easy to take advantage of.
I do not think it is possible to enforce that clause in a court so query whether it is immoral to put it in there in the first place.
In Scotland any tenancy over 6 months would be on a PRT and is an open ended agreement so this actually sounds illegal. The PRT agreements have caused various issues for landlords who would normally rent out short term over summer but cannot now do so due to the terms of the PRT (Private Residential Tenancy) as the tenant would have to surrender the lease first. I feel a compensation claim against both Landlord and Agent could be on the horizon
In Scotland any tenancy over 6 months would be on a PRT and is an open ended agreement so this actually sounds illegal. The PRT agreements have caused various issues for landlords who would normally rent out short term over summer but cannot now do so due to the terms of the PRT (Private Residential Tenancy) as the tenant would have to surrender the lease first. I feel a compensation claim against both Landlord and Agent could be on the horizon
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