Residents are up in arms as Airbnb takes over in the popular holiday hotspot – and locals are calling for more regulation
Residents in a UK city are kicking up a fuss as Airbnb takes over the popular holiday hotspot, with locals demanding tighter regulation.
The surge in short-term holiday lets has seen rental costs and house prices skyrocket in areas where second homes are snapped up, pushing up market value due to demand.
Some locals claim they’ve been turfed out of their homes so landlords can rake in higher rents from Airbnb lettings.
York is the latest city to feel the pinch, with residents claiming ‘whole flats and houses are being snatched away from local people’ by Airbnb rentals. Locals have been ‘pushed’ to relocate outside of the city, blaming soaring rental costs and lack of availability – and they’re crying out for action on the issue.
Labour Guildhall ward councillors at City of York Council are calling for change and demanding local powers to ‘control and limit the number of lets’, reports the Express.
Councillors and residents are grumbling about ‘noise, antisocial behaviour and parking issues’ in the historic city, which pulls in roughly 8 million visitors each year.
One resident spoke of ‘mad amounts’ of hen and stag dos in the city centre every weekend, adding that ‘drunken antics’ had become ‘unmanageable by police and city cleaners’.
The York Tourism Strategy reveals that the city’s appeal to visitors brings in a whopping £1.7 billion to the local economy annually. However, there’s a growing sense of unease among locals, with some fearing they’ll lose their homes to accommodate tourists.
Labour Guildhall ward councillors have launched a petition calling for restrictions on holiday homes, as other popular tourist destinations such as Cornwall, Wales and parts of Devon introduce double council tax, also known as the second homes premium.
Over 1000 York residents have already put their names to the petition, expressing their exasperation at the ‘overtourism’ in their local area.
One disgruntled resident wrote on the petition page: “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 added: “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 resident said whilst the ‘original idea of Airbnb was good’ which involved ‘putting people up in a spare room in your own home’, the short-let system had spiralled out of control 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.”
