Residents in a UK city are up in arms as Airbnb takes over in the popular holiday hotspot – and locals are calling for more regulation.
Mass short term holiday lets mean rental costs and house prices soar in areas where second homes are purchased as demand pushes up market value.
Some locals say they’ve been evicted from their homes, so landlords can cash in on the more lucrative rent collected from Airbnb lettings.
The city of York is the latest place where ‘whole flats and houses are being taken away from local people’ by Airbnb rentals, residents say. Locals have been ‘forced’ to move outside of the city, blaming rental costs and availability – and they are calling for action on the issue.
Labour Guildhall ward councillors at City of York Council are demanding change and calling for local powers to ‘control and restrict the number of lets’.
Councillors and residents complain of ‘noise, antisocial behaviour and parking problems’ in the historic city, which draws in about 8 million visitors each year.
One resident described ‘insane amounts’ of hen and stag parties in the city centre every weekend, adding that ‘drunkard behaviour’ had become ‘unmanageable by police and city cleaners’.
The York Tourism Strategy reports that the city’s draw for visitors has a value of some £1.7 billion to the local economy (annually), but there is some unrest, as local people feel unsettled with some fearing losing their homes to house tourists.
A petition has been started by Labour Guildhall ward councillors calling for restrictions – and it comes as other holiday hotspots such as Cornwall, Wales and parts of Devon bring in double council tax (also known as second homes premium).
Over 1000 residents in York have so far signed the petition, with some venting their frustration at the ‘overtourism’ in their local area.
Writing on the petition page, one said: “The fact Airbnbs continue without regulation means so many are forced out of living inside York, whether that’s because of cost, or availability.
“It’s for sure a contributing factor to the insane amount of hen/stag/drunkard parties in the centre every weekend making town clearly unmanageable by police, cleaning services, and services in general.
“Heavier regulation would mean at least local communities have their say, and hopefully could have these AirBnBs actually give something back to the local community (and its homeless services that it is effecting) rather than just depriving people of housing, with no repercussions.”
Another wrote: “I was evicted from my house in South Bank because my landlady wanted to turn it into an Airbnb.
“I now live on the other side of town but am still next door to another Airbnb.
“Short term lets are hollowing out the city, making housing scarce and by extension, putting rents up.
“We need regulation to ensure that the residents and tourists both have their needs met – a person renting out their spare room is very different from someone renting out an entire mid-terrace in South Bank on the Ebor weekend, for instance.”
Another said although the ‘original idea of Airbnb was good’ which was the idea of ‘putting people up in a spare room in your own home’, the model of short letting had now got out of hand in York.
They added: “Whole flats and houses are being taken away from local people.
“Let’s follow, for example, New York City, which limits holiday rentals to primary residences.”
