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Inside London Airbnb Flats Used For Illegal Raves

Across London, short-term rental properties, are being converted into unauthorised pop-up nightclubs risking to aid the spread of coronavirus.

By Anton BlackPublished 4 years ago 5 min read
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Inside London Airbnb Flats Used For Illegal Raves
Photo by Zac Bromell on Unsplash

It was before midnight on July 25. Deafening noise and people everywhere. The party was in full swing on Carlisle Street in Soho. The short-term rental property hosting the party had been transformed into a pop-up nightclub: used disposable cups, nitrous oxide canisters and opened bottles of bubbles left everywhere.

The DJ had his professional sound system set up. What appeared to be bouncers collect the required payment at the door. They also had an unlicensed bar selling alcoholic drinks. When enforcement officers came to break the party up, they counted 106 intoxicated revellers.

And Airbnb had made it all possible.

With nightclubs shut and gatherings of a large number of people still banned under current coronavirus restrictions, short-term rental websites - Airbnb and Booking.com - have become nightclub-for-hire services.

These unlawful gatherings, held at short-term rentals in the West-end of London, left residents terrified over the potential spread of Covid-19 and pushed enforcement officers into a ludicrous whack-a-mole game against illegal parties.

Airbnb on Carlisle Street - photo by Westminster City Council

The Carlisle Street flat seems to be one of the worst repeat offenders.

July 18.

With no social distancing, a DJ music system, unlicensed alcohol sales, and admission fees, over 100 people were on Carlisle Street.

The property was "cleared out", and the person who booked the flat on Airbnb confessed it on the night. For three consecutive weekends in July, enforcement officers from Westminster Council shut down and issued noise abatement warnings on similar unauthorised parties at the same address.

The flat also has the dubious honour of being the first property in England to receive a sanction for breaching new regulations brought into force on July 18. The new rules and Section 80 noise abatement notices – which requires that the noise reduces or stops by prohibiting its occurrence or recurrence – allows councils to shut down events and gatherings posing "a serious and imminent threat to public health".

Bookings for the Carlisle Street property were all made via Airbnb.

Airbnb on Carlisle Street - photo by Westminster City Council

At the moment the property is not listed on the Airbnb website but can be found on Expedia and Booking.com. Airbnb said to have removed those guests from their site, adding that Airbnb has "zero tolerance for antisocial behaviour".

Westminster has been the worst hit by the rise of illegal, pop-up nightclubs.

In May Westminster council had only one complaint about a similar event. Claims rose to 12 in June and 30 in July. Investigating illegal gatherings has become a routine for enforcement officers.

They have the task of breaking them up and issuing warnings against property owners. Discovering them in advance to prevent gatherings, it's not easy. And with big groups of young people drinking, taking drugs and disregarding social distancing, it's also dangerous. Council officers required police intervention at many of the illegal events.

Brewer St, Soho - photo by Anton Black

On July 11, Police and council officers shut down a rave in Brewer Street. Around ninety punters filled two neighbouring flats, let on Airbnb.

Later that month a similar party was hosted in the same building but a different flat. Enforcement officers found out that a local restaurant owns the flats. Before the lockdown, they were used as staff accommodation. Airbnb and Expedia said that no property at this address was booked on their platforms for the weekends in question.

Residents and local community leaders are becoming enraged at the lack of accountability shown by the short-letting companies.

These platforms, initially, converted flats into de facto hotels - and during the pandemic, into illegal, pop-up nightclubs increasing, in a global public health emergency, the spread of a deadly virus.

Reports of illegal pop-up nightclubs forced Airbnb to introduce a global ban on all parties and events at its listings. The policy will remain in force "until further notice".

Airbnb has also banned under-25s with negative reviews from using the platform in France, Spain and of course, the UK, to book entire properties in their local area. They announced a similar policy in Canada and the USA in early July.

Also, Booking.com said the company has "zero tolerance" for illegal activity carried via their site. And Expedia said the company takes cases of antisocial behaviour "very seriously".

Council officials in London said these steps don't go far enough.

And yet again call on the government to take serious action to force short-term rental sites to get in line.

Westminster, which includes Soho, Covent Garden and other central London neighbourhoods that are typically known for their active nightlife, was hardest affected by the increase of illegal pop-up nightclubs.

The nearby Camden council has received only a handful of complaints despite having an almost as large number of short-term rental listings.

One property on Kilburn High Road, in late July and early August, hosted two unauthorised parties.

Residents lamented loud music, screaming, drug use, and violence, with police visiting the site on several occasions.

Eight police officers were called to break up an illegal party at another short-term rental in High Holborn "Providers must start taking more responsibility," says Danny Beales, Camden Council's cabinet member for investing in communities.

Even before the pandemic, the scale of London's short-term rental crisis was massive.

As of January this year, there were 8,836 short-term listings in Westminster alone, according to data from AirDNA, an analytics system. AirDNA data also shows that 5,769 Westminster properties have reached the 90-day legal limit imposed on entire homes listed on the capital's short term rental platforms during the past 12 months. In London, 73,549 homes are classified as short term rentals, corresponding to one in 50 of all city homes.

For Airbnb, the pandemic was a rollercoaster.

It faced an enraged rebellion from its hosts as almost half of its profits evaporated overnight as the world was put in lockdown. With reports that Airbnb is going to press on with plans to list on the stock exchange, recovery has followed the loss of the last months.

This will be one of the biggest of 2020, with the current round of funding by Airbnb indicating an $18 billion valuation. This had been valued at $26bn in early March before the company felt the full force of lockdown. Airbnb announced in May a 25 per cent cut of its workforce.

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About the Creator

Anton Black

I write about politics, society and the city where I live: London in the UK.

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