The housing landscape in the UK has been a topic of concern for the last 5 years, however, when the country is still reeling from the pandemic, it has been thrust more directly into the public eye. COVID-19 highlighted the big issues in the UK; the housing crisis being one of the biggest. The shortage of affordable housing has created challenges for young people and families across the country. Despite the pandemic forcing people to the reality of the country’s issues, it is not the only culprit. The rise of short terms lets, notably Airbnb, have contributed this complex issue.

The Rise of Airbnb in the UK

Since the company was founded in 2008, Airbnb has transformed the holiday industry. In the last decade, it has dominated the short term lets market and has had a large contribution to the UK’s housing crisis (AirBnb criticised for causing impact on the Housing Crisis, 2017). Small communities are being vastly affected by the lack of regulation of short term lets, turning peaceful towns into tourist hotspots and allow for the wide gentrification of cities and local towns alike. Short term lets are a significant part of the UK’s visitor economy, therefore contributing to the ever-growing sharing economy in the country. While it is not the sole reason for the state of housing in this country, the popularity of the company has affected the rental market in multiple ways.

What’s the connection?

Airbnb was meant to be an economical alternative to expensive hotels but now, country, when comparing the price of an Airbnb in Camborne, Cornwall to a Premier Inn in the same area, it turns out that the Airbnb is no longer the cheaper option. This is affecting areas all over the country, from large cities like London, Manchester, and Bristol, to more rural areas like Cornwall and even smaller districts like Llanberis in North Wales. The town has been dubbed ‘the Magaluf of North Wales’ by locals due to the complete disregard visitors have for the area. Affordable housing is no more in the small town at the foot of Mount Snowdon and locals have even been forced out of the area due to lack of housing, meaning families are separated and children must move schools. (Whittingham and Hamilton, 2023). As for Cornwall, it is a popular summer destination for UK staycations, and with it being a tourist area the locals are really feeling the pinch. However, with the area being a SUMMER destination, it means a lot of second homes that are listed on Airbnb are left completely empty over the winter, leaving locals homeless and therefore displaced (Letcher, 2022) (Smith, 2023). There are over 20,000 properties listed on Airbnb in Cornwall alone and this means that young people are struggling to get onto the rental market, not to mention there are 20,000 households on the waiting list for social housing. This must change.

Regulation and statistics

An episode of ‘The Briefing Room’ podcast; ‘What’s the problem with Airbnb?’ posted on 31st August this year, showed statistics that the number of holiday lets rose by 40% between 2018 and 2021 and its young people/families that are most affected. Research also shows that there is a lack of regulation of holiday lets. This means that Airbnb is likely not meeting the required regulations in London specifically, which is supposed to limit short term let usage to 90 days annually. And when you take in consideration that London sees up to 19 million visitors per year, its clear that those regulations are not being adhered to (Aaronovitch, 2023).

What is the solution?

One opinion of Hannah Fearn is that banning Airbnb’s would go a long way to solving the issue. She highlights a previous point of mine related to the tourist destinations of the UK, how the areas highly affected are Devon, Cornwall, and Wales, that Airbnb (among other short term rental schemes) is hollowing out communities. Fearn also points out that in Wales it is now possible for a landlord to make enough money renting out a property for just 10 weeks of the year as they would if they rented to a family for a whole year. (Fearne, 2023). Up until recently, the UK government has done very little to regulate short term lets and have refused to fully acknowledge the housing crisis in the country. They have only just begun working on a Renters Reform Bill, which will offer renters protection from no-fault evictions. Unfortunately, though, it is not enough. In contrast to the rest of the world, there are some nations that are attempting to rectifying their housing issues. For example, Portugal. The nation is one of the poorest in the EU. The government there has accepted that the housing situation there has become unsustainable and are working towards a solution. The Portuguese government has outright banned Airbnb from obtaining new permits in many cities that will force homeowners to empty properties to use them properly. They believe that by leasing them to government for 5 years, it will allow the vacant homes to be put to good use, believing that housing is a basic human right (Fearn, 2023).

Conclusion

While Airbnb is not the only cause of the housing crisis, its existence and prominence in the travel industry and real estate has created an issue that could’ve been so easily avoided. The lack of legal intervention in the regulation of short term lets plus the greed of those who can afford a second home and use sites like Airbnb to rent out their house to pay their mortgage has created a perfect storm of housing exploitation.

Bibliography

1. Aaronovitch, D. (2023) The Briefing Room. https://open.spotify.com/episode/5XN5mQ1qYKatHWj5NBU7d5?si=e03826a31dd74dbe (Accessed: January 8, 2024).
2. AirBnb criticised for causing impact on the Housing Crisis (2017). https://www.proquest.com/docview/1911640947/fulltext/B2A2EE3666A142D2PQ/1?accountid=9727&parentSessionId=0TdEJMJYRzurwzDtutYkhYUU%2FwSEGAOwjEehJbn%2B8xg%3D&sourcetype=Wire%20Feeds.
3. Fearn, H. (2023) ‘Banning Airbnbs would go a long way to solving the UK’s housing crisis,’ inews.co.uk, 22 February. https://inews.co.uk/opinion/banning-airbnb-uk-housing-crisis-2165111.
4. Letcher, L. (2022) Locals back plan to regulate Cornish holiday lets. https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/airbnb-locals-believe-regulating-holiday-7420729.
5. Smith, S. (2023) Airbnb is making life hell for young renters in tourist hotspots. https://www.dazeddigital.com/life-culture/article/59744/1/airbnb-is-making-life-hell-for-young-renters-in-tourist-hotspots-cornwall.
6. Whittingham, S. and Hamilton, J. (2023) ‘AirBnB is turning our quiet village into the ‘Magaluf of north Wales’: Snowdon locals hit out at…,’ Mail Online, 11 September. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12495825/Village-residents-say-Airbnb-killing-Welsh-mountain.html.