The Dark Side Of Airbnb

By Dan Hutton on April 6, 2015 in News

While the vast majority of Airbnb users are more than happy to sing its praises and take advantage of its long list of positive attributes, a dark side to the popular bed-sharing business is beginning to emerge.

One local resident, who asked to remain anonymous, had his Waverley property listed on Airbnb while he was looking to sell and living elsewhere.

“A friend recommended we put it up on Airbnb and make a bit of cash while it essentially lay dormant,” the resident said.

“He’d had plenty of success renting out his spare rooms in Clovelly. Given that we were paying a mortgage as well as rent on another place, it seemed like a no-brainer.”

He quickly found a tenant, finance was exchanged and all appeared to be rosy, but when he went to the property to tidy it up for an open house inspection after the tenants were supposed to have vacated, he got a rude surprise.

“Not only had the tenants failed to vacate, drug paraphernalia including what looked like ice pipes and empty baggies littered the dining and coffee tables, a power point had been pulled from the wall and the place was a mess. They’d also been cooking something up in our wine glasses,” he said.

The local resident’s first thought was to contact the local police, but he was told that it was a civil issue and it was beyond their control.

“If you invite someone stay in your house and they refuse to leave or trash the house, there is no legal way of booting them out,” he said.

“It is a civil matter, in which you need to seek to have them evicted by the local council.

“While all their stuff was still in the house, thankfully they were out. It could’ve gotten quite ugly otherwise. I had to move their stuff out of the house and on to the street. I was certainly a bit scared for my safety given the situation, but the police essentially wiped their hands of it. They said there was nothing they could do.”

Nightmare tenants are not the only issue facing Airbnb users. In September last year, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that Randwick Council had sent a letter to one of its residents warning of fines of up to $1.1 million for running an “unauthorised” bed and breakfast.

It seems that Council’s stand on this has softened significantly in the last six months though.

“Generally, a homeowner is able to let out a room of their home providing the principal use of the premises remains that of a dwelling, as defined in Council’s Local Environmental Plan (LEP),” a Council spokesperson said.

“Development approval is required when the property changes use from a dwelling to a serviced apartment where the whole house or apartment is let out for the purpose of providing short term accommodation.

“Should Council consider the use of a premises to be unauthorised, Council officers would generally issue a notice of intention to serve an order upon the property owner, as it would be considered ‘development without consent’. The fines associated with the order vary depending on the breach.”