Landlords exposed flouting law on Airbnb

According to BBC reports, landlords are establishing multiple listings for their homes on Airbnb, assisting them in avoiding limits on short-term lets. Homes in the capital can be allowed for up to 90 nights a year without planning permission, a law that helps to safeguard London's housing supply. However, several landlords are creating multiple listings for the same property, then converting to a new one as the maximum is reached in order to unlawfully continue renting the house for short-term lets all year. One local council said it was creating a mockery of the legislation, but Airbnb said it responded after local authorities informed us when hosts violated rules when hosts evaded rules.

London, one of Airbnb's most popular markets, is the only area in the UK that limits visitors to tourists for a maximum of 90 days. The scheme is designed to encourage people to profit a little more from their homes when they are not in use, while still safeguarding rental housing for people like Ciaron Tobin.

The 22-year-old is planning to move to London to begin a law degree while working part-time, but he has been struggling to find an affordable home near his workplace to share with friends.

Properties are obviously too expensive for what I can do in London, particularly considering where I must commute,

he said. "Prices are now out of reach of what I can afford. With Airbnb, production is decreasing and prices are rising. Airbnb has disputed the effect on rental rates, and several landlords have slammed the 90-day laws, claiming that it places too many restrictions.

Identical images

To get a glimpse of the current situation, BBC Verify developed photo-matching software that analyzed images from 37,000 advertisements for entire homes on Airbnb in London on a single day. About 1,300 photos had reused identical photos from other supposedly unique websites, such as the same furniture, bedrooms, and decor. The app came at a larger number - about 1,700 - but we deleted a quarter that were likely to be legitimately reusing photos, such as stock photos of London or multiple flats in a single building after manually reviewing a sample. According to the results, hosts are commonly using a known tactic for escaping the 90-day rule, allowing them to extend short-term rentals beyond what the law allows by creating duplicate listings that have not been sought out by Airbnb. According to a previous BBC inquiry, some property companies were trying out new addresses or re-photographing the same house. Airbnb said it used an inbuilt counter to discourage people from renting out short-term lets for longer than 90 days, and that duplicate listings of the same property to evade enforcement were in breach of its terms. From the moment a property is listed, the counter starts.

Duplicate listings make it much harder for our teams to track down those who are breaking the rules, causing such misery for local residents and taking homes out of the housing market,

Adam Hug, Labour-controlled Westminster City Council's leader, said. The situation made a joke of London's short-stay limits, according to him. Around 2,700 homes are currently being investigated for possible breaches of the 90-day statute. The best way to deal with landlords that break the rules is to give them an enforcement notice. Ignoring one is a criminal offence and can result in arrest and a lifetime fine. The BBC's findings, according to a Greater London Authority spokesperson,

illegal short-term lets pile pressure on supply at a time when affordable housing is desperately needed. The BBC revealed its methods and findings with Airbnb and even offered an on-camera interview for the company to respond, which was turned down. Airbnb said it was

disappointed

that the BBC had not released its results in raw data form, so it

could investigate the reported findings. It said it was the only platform in Greater London that automatically capped listings at 90 nights unless hosts had permission to exceed the limit, and that if rules were broken, it responded immediately. It argued that short-term lets made up just a small fraction of London's housing stock, had no effect on overall affordability, and that tourism played a key role in tourism, supporting 16,800 jobs and increasing £1. 5bn to the capital's economy in 2023. There are several other short-term letting firms out there, but Airbnb is by far the most popular. In England, the Department of Culture, Media, and Sport announced that it was establishing a registration system for short-term lets. The Short Term Accommodation Association said it needed clear fair and rules, adding that a registration scheme would "give the industry the tools to deal quickly with councils that can deal with rapidly with illicit activity such as duplicate listings. Airbnb told the BBC that it was working with the government on implementing the scheme. Scotland needs alicence to function in the United Kingdom, as in Wales, with similar plans in place. Anyone providing tourist accommodation in Northern Ireland must have been registered by Tourism Northern Ireland by now. Cities like New York and Santa Monica, California, are tightly limiting such lettings by licensing and making a promise for hosts to be on-site, while Barcelona is considering a total ban on short-term rentals from 2028.