AirBnB Megathread - ALL A&P related Airbnb discussion here please

I have been using airbnb now for about 12 months and have stayed in about 10 different places in a number of countries.
I am doing a bit of inter continental travel next month and have booked 5 different airbnb places in 5 different well known cities. All of which are cheaper then both Hotels and Hostels.

I find it a fantastic concept which really empowers the individual. When you stay in a hotel, you are giving money to a large corporation. When you stay in an Airbnb you are giving money to a regular ordinary Joe Soap who is running his own small business. Oddly I find the people most against the concept to be left wing types, when it is exactly these people who should be for the concept.

However, Airbnb also takes away the power of the State to interfere with every facet of ones life, that may be the reason why those left wing types are so annoyed with Airbnb, they love to regulate the beejeus out of everything.

Anyway, the peer to peer economy is here to stay in some shape or form. You can't really put that genie back in the bottle much as some people would love to. Well done to all the landlords going down this route as well.

Robineen wrote: »

Not always.

AirBnB started out as a great concept, people occasionally renting out their home if they are not there. But a property in a residential area being constantly let out to strangers can be disruptive to neighbours and indeed this has already caused problems in Dublin. Is that to be applauded? At least hotels are in areas zoned appropriately for that use.

And the whole " big bad corporation" against the "noble, small business owner" nonsense. That corporation is providing employment, the dastard! Renting out a property that you own provides none, except maybe bringing in a cleaner the odd time.

Airbnb users and landlords are also providing employment to people. Not directly apart from cleaners and workmen/tradesmen. They provide employment by the fact that people will have more disposable income in their back pocket, which they will spend in a restaurant, pub, tourist sites and so on. All these people will hire more people as a result. If Airbnb makes it cheaper for tourists to visit cities, they those not as wealthy will also be able to visit different places and more often.

Airbnb also have a much more personal aspect to it. Not everyone wants to stay in a soulless hotel, where you are paying money for services you do not use nor need. Some of the best places I have stayed in are where the host makes an effort to have dinner and talk about various things. People want different things from their holiday and sitting down with a local breaking bread with them is often the best way to get an insight into a different culture and way of life.

If Airbnb landlords are not taking a duty of care in relation to noise/disturbance then there is legislation already in place to stop this. Only that in Ireland enforcement is usually terrible. How else can a long term tenant basically live in a home, pay no rent and it would take the guts of a year to get them out?

As usual any problem with something new we may not fully understand, the Irish reaction is to ban it.

Robineen wrote: »

The "big, bad corporation" stuff is sophomoric. AirBnb is a corporation, for gawd's sake. :pac: Nothing wrong with liking AirBnb but please don't paint it as some noble pursuit for property owners to use it for their properties. Big hotel chain, or small business owner, it's about money for both parties.

Airbnb and others like them like Uber, Airtasker etc. are embracing the peer to peer economy, connecting individual through technology. The genie is out of the bottle and no matter how many old, grey bureaucrats tut tut at the idea, eventually it will become the norm. It is still a rough new industry with some odd teething issue. One has to think why people find it so popular. Its a classic case of supply and demand. Both landlords and tourists benefit, there are not that many downsides to be honest.

Sure, sure, some people do like that. For me that sounds very unappealing to spend my holidays that way. Ewwww, paying to engage in small talk? I don't even like to that for free! But I suspect that isn't a big draw of Airbnb anyway, most people go for the cheapness of it and location of some of the properties. I don't get the whole soulless hotel room thing though. If it's comfortable and spacious and where I want it to be, that's what I want, plus food is handed to me for breakfast and a swimming pool to bob around usually provided. People are happy to pay extra for that stuff that is often missing from self-catering rentals. Anyhoo, a matter of personal preference so not too relevant.

Yes, if people want to pay extra for a hotel room, with room service, spa, swimming pool and gym, then fine. There will always be a market for that. However, many people want to explore the city and environment and not be stuck in a hotel room. I found that when I went somewhere we spent hardly anytime in the hotel as we were out and about exploring.

Airbnb has the choice as well, just look at the reviews of the place and you can see how engaging the host is. Sometime people will just look for a room to crash for a few nights, other times they will want a more engaging experience. However, at the end of the day its about the choice of the individual, not some planning busy body to chose for us what type of accommodation we want.

Well, planning permission will soon be required to rent on Airbnb, I think, and I can envisage it not being granted in residential buildings or densely packed separate houses most of time. This is only right. Like said, I would hate to live adjacent to an Airbnb property. So much so that if I suspected it was in breach of regulations, I'd likely report it as I'd like to feel comfortable in my own home and building. And, yes, I would also hate to live next to a problem tenant. You can dislike both.

Let me ask you this, would you prefer to live near a house/unit that is rented on Airbnb, or a halting site or next to someone in social housing who exhibits anti-social behaviour. As we have seen time and again, it is next to impossible to evict some of these people, where by Airbnb take this issue seriously. Another example of the private sector being better to sort out these issues then the public sector.

Look, I do understand concerns and issues with Airbnb. As I said, there are teething issues that can be sorted. However, what we have seen here from our elected dear leaders is just primal reactionary guff. Telling the hundred or thousands of people to go through the planning process is just in theory at least is a sneaky way to ban it, in theory. The same was tried with Uber in places like Canada and Australia. Eventually, the government in the latter legalised both Uber and Airbnb as they recognise, its better to put in some guidelines and protocols then just put the head in the sand and point to arcane planning laws meant for the last century when no one knew what peer to peer even meant.

People will continue to use Airbnb and landlords will continue to rent out places to tourists on a short term basis.

Erm, other countries are way ahead of us in restricting AirBnb. A tad patronising to chalk this down to lack of comprehension too, no?

True, yet is Ireland supposed to be a technology hub yet we have government policy that advocates 19th century thinking here. I would rather a wider open discussion, where best practice can be looked at and genuine concerns addressed, not some school marm dictating what free people can and cannot do.

KyussBeeshop wrote: »

You can't pick and choose the laws you follow. Long-term AirBnB rentals are illegal, unless you get planning permission.

Landlords are not free to ignore the law here, and they shouldn't be encouraged to just because a tiny minority of people think that law is unfair.

If people think they can just continue to ignore the planning laws, then - like the 'Freeman on the Land' types - that's not going to end well for them.

The law is behind technology in this case and it will be changed in due course to be kept up to the modern way of life. Ireland can either be in front of history or on the wrong side of history.

There is plenty of precedent here. Besides, I would like to see if this 'law' (if you can call it that) will be enforced. We also have a blasphemy law but its never enforced.

Robineen wrote: »

For landlords and tourists. They are not the only consideration here.

Anyway, as another poster said, the regulations most certainly are enforceable in this area. You are free to think otherwise by citing one unenforceable law whilst ignoring the many which can be enforced. Up to you. I'm just happy permanent residents won't be ridden roughshod over. The needs of many should never be ignored for the wants of the few.

As I said, there are issues that need to be addressed, but this can only happen within a new framework, not old planning laws where hotels and B&B's get to call the shots, effectively trying to shut the industry down.

No one would bat an eye lid to apply for planning permission if the process was straight forward, easy, transparent, fast and without cost. If it cost 50 euro or so just to get a simple bit of paperwork, fine. 99% of Airbnb landlords would be OK with this.

What it actually means is that the use of planning laws and red tape is a proxy to shut down a business model that is a threat to the established trade. Does anyone know how much it would cost to be all legit this way, to dot the i's, cross the t's?

Probably the guts of 10 grand. If the cost of entering a new market is 10k then surprise surprise, there won't be many takers. Of course this cost is passed onto the end user of the product, namely tourists. Big hotels chains will be laughing and will continue to charge 200-400 a night in Dublin.

Robineen wrote: »

I'm not hearing any consideration for permanent residents in any of your posts. It's most odd. I don't think it will just a case of 'apply for planning permission, get planning permission' even if it's costly. I can see it being denied in many cases because it will be recognised that the permission is sought in a building where it is not suitable. The management company of one Dublin apartment block has already banned long-term AirBnb letting.

Oh and if you can't find non-Airbnb accommodation in Dublin CC for less than €200 a night, you're doing it wrong.

I already admit that there are teething issues in some areas but these can be resolved with consultation between relevant stakeholders, i.e. Airbnb, landlords and permanent residents.

Problem landlords can be dealt with given the right tools, but the current mess that is planning law in Ireland fails miserably and is only used as a tool to strangle the life out of this new business model, protecting the status quo.