Neighbours of a mews house whose owners want permission to run it as a holiday let say Airbnbs are ruining the neighbourhood.
Owner Carolyn Goodman, from Hurstpierpoint, already rents out 12 Marlborough Mews, behind Western Road, as short term visitor accommodation.
She is now applying for planning permission to officially change its use from a dwelling house.
But people living in the street say holiday rentals have caused big problems in the area, including noise, antisocial behaviour and even one property being used as a brothel.
One comment says: “The noise and disturbances coming from this property, in a mainly conservation area, are severely problematic for other residents in the street.”
Another says: “Visitors intent on having a good time during their short stay have previously shown little consideration for the long term residents of Marlborough Street.
“The police have been involved on occasions to deal with disruptive behaviour at short term visitor properties in Marlborough Street.
“The establishment of the Marlborough Street Neighbourhood Watch also provides evidence of residents concerns of any increase in antisocial behavior in this street.”
However, comment whose author has been redacted but which appears to have been left by Ms Goodman says she takes the relationship with its neighbours “very serously” and it is mainly used by young families.
She said she has been letting it out as a holiday let since 2021, but had recently been informed she needed planning permission to continue doing so.
She says: “There has been a problem with an Air BnB property in the area, where the anti social behaviour warranted informing the police.
“This has nothing to do with my property, and as far as I am aware there has been no “noise and disturbance” coming from our property(as per an objection).
“The local residents, seemingly in the form of Marlborough Street Neighbourhood Watch, have decided that this is an opportunity to complain about all holiday lets however well managed they are.”
Another comment, again redacted but which says it is from a holiday let managing company, says it vets guests before stays, including background checks.
It also says it has a “responsive management system” and that the holiday let positively contribute to the local economy.
With five objections made in time, the planning application should now be decided by the council’s planning committee.
Background checks? What a load of rubbish. The Airbnb owners care only about money and ignore the fact that a typical Airbnb gets taken for those coming to Brighton to party. Often regardless of the “official” numbers the actual people who pitch up are up to twice these and generally get plastered and return in the early hours causing havoc. They should be banned as they can’t be regulated.
Yes, I was thinking what kind of ‘background checks’ you can perform on strangers wanting to book a property for the weekend. You could block those with new accounts / no reviews, have ‘no parties’ in your listing, but what beyond that? And what is a ‘responsive management system’? Is the agent or owner going to turn up and 2 am and tell them to go to bed? Sounds like a load of hot air.
Basically that, since the person staying also gets a rating from the owner, that most likely contributes to a “background check”.
Easy to get caught up on the terminology used here that’s clearly being used to sound more technical than “check their rating”. That reminds me of that Black Mirror episode…
Haha, I know which episode of Black Mirror you are referring to. The problem of course is that I could have a good review for a trip to Norfolk with family, but be coming to Brighton for a knees up with the lads. Or I could have had a party in Norfolk, and the owner doesn’t know or care.
Women “work” in #12. I wonder if they are trafikked slaves. All with the nod from the rental agent and the landlord.
That should be reported to the police.
Problem with neighbourhood watch is that you get the same antisocial behaviours from them as you see from HOAs; because they don’t like something, they will attempt to bully and harass in a far more sinister and malicious way.
Whilst I am totally for the registration and regulation holiday lets for city planning purposes, I do want to be mindful that there is likely a second side.
Anyone renting Airbnb in the rain-soaked UK needs their head examining.
Overall, it’s cheaper and better to go abroad – even for the weekend.
Analytics tell a very different story I’m afraid, Miles.
Maybe you should move then if it’s so bad here…
We need to do what New York as done and put pay to Air BB letting out homes. They add to the homeless problem, force up property prices and offer tennants of which there is no control over. Perhaps the owner would like her property in Hurstpierpoint surrounded by Air B&Bs
I certainly agree regarding registration and regulation as a business, because it IS a business, and being held to the standard of a business, is a very reasonable ask, in my opinion.
If that makes it unappealing, I’m sure the council would welcome buy backs.
Buy backs? The council has money to turn £650,000 houses into council houses? I thought they were skint.
I’d urge you to read the latest Housing Report.
HMRC need to serve an enforcement notice on air BnB. When this lot are forced to pay correct corporation tax and council rates as it’s a business, they would soon turn them back into normal rentals.
Equally the council should be charging a tourist tax to pay for a new fleet of bin trucks, regularly see them broken down.
They don’t have to, that’s the problem at the moment. Still, the announcement today from the central government is a very welcome one.
If there was a £1 tax for every time Benjamin posted his replies and comments on here with his repetitive dull, uninformed and asinine opinions, the city could have an entire fleet of trucks within hours. Get a life Benny
Ad homeim tantrums aren’t really worth engaging with; sorry I’ve had to repeat myself, but you keep saying the same thing, and it remains illogical.
Whilst I agree the idea of airbnbs and holiday letting is not ideal and personally I wouldn’t want to live around that situation, I used to let out the house next door to students (mostly foreign students) for at least the last 10 years I worked in Brighton and we never really received complaints from down this street, only her next door haha
You think she might just have a bit of a vendetta?