Unruly Airbnb guests ruining lives - councillor

Unruly Airbnb guests are ruining people's lives and making them feel unsafe in their own homes, a councillor has said.

Marcus Johns, who represents and lives in the Deansgate ward in Manchester, said short-term lets (SLTs) in his apartment block are causing "issues every weekend".

Mr Johns said guests are said to have smashed lifts and kicked doors in.

Manchester City Council said it had already taken action to deal with the problem.

Councillor Irene Robinson, who represents Ancoats and Beswick, said people in the city centre were renting out properties solely as Airbnbs, and "often [the landlord] does not know".

Ms Robinson said she did not want an end to STLs but said the antisocial behaviour had to stop.

"Even where there are clauses in the building [leases] where you are not allowed to sublet, they are just ignored," she said.

"We need to be able to shut these down."

A council report said about 3,600 properties or spare rooms in Manchester were listed on Airbnb in the winter, with more expected to be listed as STLs on other rival websites.

The peak was last summer, when 3,911 were listed - an increase on the pre-coronavirus pandemic level of 3,429.

The report added the lack of planning permission required for STL use was a factor in the problem.

Fiona Sharkey, community safety enforcement lead, said because there was no register of STLs the council had to rely on intelligence from residents and councillors.

She said: "We will work proactively with landlords.

"In the past, we have issued closure notices. We have worked with Airbnb and Booking.com to provide good neighbour advice.

“But the lack of a registering regime does hamper us."

She added that where the council had contacted hosts, the problems did not generally recur, but there had been enforcement against repeat offenders.

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