Menace of Air bnb Covidiots
As 100 champagne guzzling revellers cram into £3.5m townhouse, how councils are facing a desperate battle to clamp down on a wave of illegal parties blamed for spreading the virus
LUXURY properties rented out through Airbnb are hosting illegal alcohol-fuelled parties for young, wealthy revellers despite the risk of spreading coronavirus, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
A three-bedroom flat at a Grade II-listed £3.5million townhouse in London’s trendy Soho was used for four events within the space of the month.
More than 100 youngsters at one of those events – some arriving in sports cars and many wearing expensive jewellery – packed into the property where they gulped down Veuve Clicquot champagne and inhaled ‘hippy crack’.
One party at the flat on upmarket Carlisle Street on July 25 was so raucous that it was raided at 3am by enforcement officers from Westminster Council. Photographs show kitchen sideboards groaning with halfempty bottles of champagne and spirits and abandoned canisters of nitrous oxide scattered around bedrooms.
In addition to a DJ, a professional sound system and a cash bar, organisers had hired two bouncers, one of whom was found holding a ‘clicker’ that showed 106 people had been crammed into the property.
Recalling the series of noisy events, a night shift worker at the neighbouring Residence Hotel said: ‘I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
‘More and more people arrived as the night went on and the party got louder and louder. And it kept happening, week after week.’
Mahesh Tulsiani, who rents out his flat for £710-anight, said that he had no inkling that it was to be turned into an illegal pop-up nightclub when a ‘wellspoken and polite’ man came to collect the keys.
Mr Tulsiani, who has been served with a noise abatement notice by the council and was one of the first property owners in Britain to be given a prohibition notice under new Covid-19 lockdown regulations, added he was considering legal action against the men who had rented the property.
‘We made it very clear that parties were forbidden and were appalled when we found out what happened,’ he said.
‘We know that these men who rented the property have not actually been blacklisted by the short-term rental companies. Frankly, we think they could do more to stop these parties happening by introducing better checks.’
The flat has now been removed from Airbnb but was last week still available on other short-term rental sites including Booking.com and Expedia. A Booking.com spokesman said: ‘We have been investigating thoroughly and are working proactively with Westminster Council to help resolve and prevent instances like this occurring in the future.’
Expedia said it has ‘paused future bookings for the property while we investigate closer’.
Although that may come as a relief to immediate neighbours, an investigation by The Mail on Sunday shows no shortage of young people looking to party after lockdown – nor of organisers eager to cash in.
Last week, we told how 140 revellers crammed on to a canal boat for an illegal rave in East London where Class A drugs were openly consumed .
As Home Secretary Priti Patel this weekend condemned the ‘selfish’ organisers of illegal raves, local residents were sharing grim tales of raucous parties. Siobhán McSweeney, a star of the Channel 4 sitcom Derry Girls, took to Twitter to complain about problems in her area of Westminster.
‘If you are a landlord with @Airbnb_uk, rent a party house in a residential area F*** YOU,’ she tweeted yesterday.
‘If you rent a place with the intent to hold a rave with 100s of people in the middle of a pandemic F*** YOU. If you go to one of these parties despite knowing how people died alone, horribly - F*** YOU. This is getting ridiculous now. We neighbours have lodged a trillion complaints. The property is listed on Booking.com and Airbnb. Parties/Raves/Clubs are f ****** banned. Shut it down!’
Across Westminster, there were 30 complaints about illegal parties last month, up from 12 in June and only one in May. One of them on Soho’s Brewer Street involved 80 people packed into two flats in the same building.
Councillor Heather Acton, Westminster City Council Cabinet Member
for Public Protection and Licensing, who has led the campaign against short-term rental parties held in lockdown, said: ‘Our community is growing exasperated with the number of loud, disruptive and unsafe parties taking place in residential homes across Westminster.
‘Of course the pandemic has had an enormous impact on many people’s social lives but we are now seeing residential properties turned into “pop-up” nightclubs with more than 100 people crowding into small flats for unlicensed music events, often accompanied by drug dealing. It’s a dangerous trend which causes significant disruption and puts lives at risk with attendees ignoring social distancing guidance.’
Metropolitan Police Commander Ade Adelekan said: ‘Unlicensed music events are illegal and the Met will not allow these unregulated and often dangerous events to go ahead. Communities do not want these disruptive events on their doorsteps and we would ask anyone who has information on events which are being organised to contact police.’
Earlier this month, Airbnb introduced a global ban on all parties and events on its listings.
It has also banned under-25s with repeat negative reviews from using its platform in the UK, France and Spain to book whole properties in their local area.
Asked about the Carlisle Street flat, an Airbnb spokesman told The Mail on Sunday: ‘We have zero tolerance for illegal activity, removed the guests from the platform at the time and the listing is not available on Airbnb.’
‘It’s a dangerous trend – and puts lives at risk’ ‘Our community is growing exasperated’