CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » General Edinburgh

"Holiday Flats Edinburgh's Ruin"

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  1. ih
    Member

    @Rosie I don't think the single room hosts like you will have anywhere near the impact of whole house hosts.

    Posted 6 years ago #
  2. wangi
    Member

    Demand histograms! ;)

    Posted 6 years ago #
  3. Rosie
    Member

    @ih - I don't either. We spend our profits locally, we're not annoying the neighbours and creating renting ghettos. Renting rooms at peak times has been done casually in Edinburgh and other tourist spots since tourism begun.

    I do get the sense of market saturation at this time of the year. If you do a search for a property in Edinburgh 100s will turn up.

    Posted 6 years ago #
  4. unhurt
    Member

    I'd argue single room in an inhabited flat hosts are actually bringing net positive effects. That's the original air bnb model and why so many people were in favour, yes? (Now I have a spare room I'm going to sign up properly to WarmShowers.com and offer to host. Not quite the same as it's free and thus much less often, but I really like the idea of getting random hopefully-interesting visitors with interesting bikes from time to time to point towards my favourite places (and get ideas from for places to visit where they live).

    Posted 6 years ago #
  5. Rosie
    Member

    @unhurt I was in it for the money! However I'd agree that it's friendly, low-key and means you're not building mega-hotels in historic areas. On the down side it's bringing in more tourists, & there are only so many a city can handle.

    Posted 6 years ago #
  6. chdot
    Admin

  7. gembo
    Member

    @CHdot. That EEN article is actually well written. Defining short term as 90 days or less is not going to make any difference as local authorities are not going to have the resources to deal with this.i say local authorities but interestingly 50 per cent of all air b n b lets are in Edinburgh. The little key locks are proliferating.

    Posted 6 years ago #
  8. chdot
    Admin

    “The little key locks are proliferating.”

    I’m just surprised that “angry residents” don’t own sledgehammers.

    Posted 6 years ago #
  9. unhurt
    Member

    My new flat has one of those but I have no idea what the pass code is for it or how to remove it. The sellers told their agent they used the place as a "weekend getaway". Uh huh. Assume they weren't paying any tax on their Air BnB earnings?

    Posted 6 years ago #
  10. Rosie
    Member

    @gembo - Yes, sensible article.

    I would guess that you can't tackle this from the airbnb side but from the neighbours complaining side, as with noise. A pal who rents out her place does it sometimes via airbnb and sometimes via an agency. Incidentally she has had a couple of troublesome incidents between her guests and neighbours.

    Posted 6 years ago #
  11. unhurt
    Member

    @chdot or superglue

    Posted 6 years ago #
  12. Rosie
    Member

    Saw this - dunno if it's true or not:-

    "Airbnb bosses are having a secret meeting with the Edinburgh City Council on Monday

    They want to make a cosy deal to stop any regulation, that might restrict Airbnb in the City.

    Tenants have not been invited, and were not informed that this was taking place, and so are not represented at this meeting.

    Join us for a quick and noisy protest to let the Council know we won't accept a cosy deal - we want to stop Airbnb taking over the City!

    The huge increase in Airbnb is leading to higher rents and a scarcity of housing for people who live and work in Edinburgh. We are demanding very strong legislation to limit Airbnb, and fix this situation."

    https://www.facebook.com/events/208664263034030/

    Posted 6 years ago #
  13. gembo
    Member

    @rosie, not sure why the council would want to strike a deal with air b n b?

    Posted 6 years ago #
  14. Rosie
    Member

    @gembo - Does seem a little strange unless they can manage to take a cut of their profits for Edinburgh stays. There has been the "offer" from airbnb for a 90 day limit mentioned above - something to do with that?

    However I don't know how reliable this rumour is.

    Posted 6 years ago #
  15. unhurt
    Member

  16. Rosie
    Member

    Today's Metro p7

    Living Rent, Scotland's tenants' union, says the increasing popularity of Airbnb has pushed up rents for residents seeking affordable long-term accommodation.

    Its members staged a demonstration outside Edinburgh City Chambers yesterday as representatives from Airbnb met with councillors to discuss future regulations.
    Living Rent not invited. But Airbnb hosts were.

    Cllr Gavin Barrie, Housing and economy convener:- meeting helpful, will work with officers on proposals, which will be informed by the Scottish government's report, which will go to a future meeting.
    Panel's findings are due to be published next week.

    Posted 6 years ago #
  17. Rosie
    Member

    Article by Andy Wightman in Bella Caledonia.

    http://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2018/01/22/a-modern-clearance/

    I'd recommend it if only for some rude cartoons.

    Posted 6 years ago #
  18. ih
    Member

    From the Andy Wightman piece @Rosie posted:

    The demands of the international tourism market and multinational companies should have no role in framing and determining the future of our communities.

    Posted 6 years ago #
  19. Rosie
    Member

    @ih - Though buying a load of flats to rent does not need a "multinational company". Locals do it - in fact can have a better crack at it from local knowledge. Local agencies run short lets as well, and with the technology in place, if airbnb didn't do it, someone based in the Gyle could do it locally.

    Problem is mass tourism. What the Council could do is stop having festivals every 5 minutes. Otherwise we're going to end like Barcelona with their Tourists (Forum Standard) Off graffiti.

    https://elpais.com/elpais/2017/07/06/inenglish/1499362846_101095.html?rel=mas
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/11/tourism-tipping-point-travel-less-damage-destruction

    "Change of use" requirements where neighbours could shop unregulated airbnb's sounds okay on the face of it.

    Also an upper limit as a standard – say 1 short-term let allowed for every tenement.

    Posted 6 years ago #
  20. Rosie
    Member

    Conflicting views:-

    1. We canna cope with the tourists

    2. We need mair tourists

    https://www.scotsman.com/regions/edinburgh-fife-lothians/edinburgh-can-t-cope-with-booming-tourism-official-report-warns-1-4670340

    Posted 6 years ago #
  21. chdot
    Admin

  22. chdot
    Admin

  23. Stickman
    Member

  24. chdot
    Admin

    "

    STRICT new curbs on the opening of budget hotels are set to be put in place in Edinburgh city centre after it emerged they were preventing luxury chains from investing in the city and thwarting other major developments.

    "

    https://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/edinburgh-budget-hotels-could-be-curbed-to-encourage-luxury-chains-1-4686263/

    Posted 6 years ago #
  25. chdot
    Admin

    Essentially, a combination of “studentification” driven by the rapid growth in higher education, pressure from a booming tourist trade, and soaring property prices, threaten places like Edinburgh, Bristol, and Cambridge with a future as “doughnut cities”, with ordinary residents driven into the outer suburbs or beyond, while the centre increasingly becomes a “theme park” for short-term residents and visitors, and for wealthy global elites. And the threat is now compounded, in cities everywhere, by the rise of Airbnb, which offers owners of empty property a huge financial incentive to take it out of the local rental market, and turn it over to short-stay visitors.

    https://www.scotsman.com/news/opinion/joyce-mcmillan-scotland-s-cities-are-turning-into-theme-parks-1-4686241

    Posted 6 years ago #
  26. chdot
    Admin

    "

    SUPPORT for a controversial 'tourist tax' in Edinburgh is surging among residents amid growing calls for visitors to compensate for the "inconvenience and disruption" they cause.

    "

    http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/15921539.Surge_in_support_for_tourist_tax_in_Edinburgh_for__inconvenience_and_disruption_/

    Posted 6 years ago #
  27. Rosie
    Member

    @chdot That piece by Joyce Mcmillan is very good.

    Posted 6 years ago #
  28. chdot
    Admin

  29. crowriver
    Member

    Oh FFS.

    Posted 6 years ago #
  30. chdot
    Admin

    That may come. Copenhageners used to move out of the city when they retired. Now they are increasingly choosing to stay with their families and enjoy the city. Property prices are rising as a result and the economic, social and health gap between the better and worse off is widening, as in so many countries. Somehow, though, you can’t help thinking Copenhagen will manage it much better than most.

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/feb/11/how-build-healthy-city-copenhagen-reveals-its-secrets-happiness

    Posted 6 years ago #

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