'Floodgates have opened' on landlords evicting tenants to let properties on Airbnb

Former Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said he had written to the company to urge them to end the use of such properties after being made aware of “hundreds” of instances of long-term private tenants being turfed out so the properties can be let at a higher rate to holidaymakers.

‘No-fault’ evictions - formally known as Section 21 notices and meaning tenants have to leave a property with two months’ notice - have long been controversial and the 2019 Conservative manifesto promised to abolish them. But a Government white paper on rental reform has been delayed until later this year, meaning the practice is currently entirely legal.

Mr Farron said the situation is contributing to a “staffing crisis” in places like the Dales and his own constituency in the Lake District as a result of local people of working age being forced out of properties.

He said in one case, a local tradesman who was paying £650 a month to rent a one-bedroom flat was “cleared out” of his property and within days of leaving saw it being advertised on Airbnb for £1,000 a month.

Mr Farron said the “floodgates had opened” on the practice since a temporary ban on evictions introduced at the start of the pandemic came to an end.

“There has been an enormous collapse of private rented properties into becoming holiday lets,” he said.

“There are hundreds of people affected in my constituency and it is definitely happening in other similar places like Cornwall and Devon and North Yorkshire where you have seen people just cleared out of their communities because the landlord can make a killing on Airbnb.”

Airbnb has told Mr Farron it will consider the idea. The company pointed The Yorkshire Post to a recent statement where they said they would commit to “investigating” allegations that a tenant has been unfairly evicted if such matters are brought to their attention “by the relevant authorities”.

Mr Farron said the issue was far from limited to just Airbnb but he had written to the company requesting it considers stopping advertising properties that had been emptied in this manner.

“What I wanted to do is to commit to saying they would not put any property on their platform that had been made available via the landlord clearing out their tenants with a Section 21 eviction,” he said. “They said they will think about it and they’re still thinking about it.”

Mr Farron said the Government needed to step in by going ahead with banning Section 21 evictions.

Airbnb 'takes concerns seriously'

A spokesperson for Airbnb said the company has put forward proposals for a national registration scheme for its hosts.

The company is also backing the introduction of new planning guidance between commercial and non-commercial activity - giving local councils the chance to restrict the growth in holiday lets if they felt it necessary. The policy is also one supported by Mr Farron.

An Airbnb spokesperson said: “Across the UK, the majority of Hosts share space in their own home and nearly a third of UK Hosts say that the additional income is an economic lifeline.

"We take housing concerns seriously and have already put forward proposals to the government for a national registration system for hosts, following talks with communities and leaders across the UK. The UK government has committed to taking forward a registration system and we look forward to supporting the upcoming consultation.”

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