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A recent episode of Channel 5’s Nightmare Tenants, Slum Landlords featured a West London home owner who decided to let out her property so she could travel to Africa to do charity work.
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It was all fine and dandy until she started receiving complaints from her neighbours about a constant stream of people coming and going from the property. The home owner was concerned enough to fly back to find out what was going on.
Illegal Sub-letting Woes
It transpired that the ‘ideal tenant’ had turned her property into a boutique hotel and was letting the rooms out via short-term letting website, Airbnb.
“We have had concerns for some time now regarding the protection of properties which are being uploaded and offered as holiday lets via Airbnb. We continue to receive a growing number of instructions from landlords who want us to start possession proceedings against tenants who have sublet their property via Airbnb without consent,” says Paul Shamplina from Landlord Action.
“As well as damage to properties, landlords have received complaints from block managers with regards to being in breach of their head lease and unhappy neighbours in relation to anti-social behaviour, and that’s before considering issues regarding HMO licensing and possible invalidation of insurance and mortgage terms.”
Carry Out a Property Inspection
Shamplina’s advice to landlords is that if they start to receive a high number of complaints, it is a good idea to carry out a property inspection to make sure the tenant is not illegally sub-letting.
