Better regulation of AirBnBs
Tackling the Impact of Holiday Lets on Our Communities
Often, more than 1000 homes in Whitstable and Herne Bay are advertised as available on the holiday-let website Airbnb. The rapid growth of Airbnbs and holiday lets is causing widespread public concern. The Green Party held public meetings and ran a public survey to gauge local opinion.
Green Party research also revealed that many Airbnbs were registered as businesses so opt OUT of council tax but were below the threshold to pay business rate. In short, many Airbnbs PAY NOTHING for local services like bin collections, policing and fire services. That is not fair. Greens called for a probe into this injustice but nothing is being done.
More than 85% residents in Whitstable surveyed say they are worried about the scale and impact of Airbnbs. Resident’s concerns included, noise and disruption, parking, bin collections, lack of home rentals for local people and the fracturing of local communities. Of course, Greens want a vibrant visitor economy to help local businesses and there are some locally owned holiday let business providing an excellent service. However, Airbnb pays no local tax, has no connection with our area and they are now out of hand. They urgently need sensible regulation.
