Airbnb makes ban on all house parties worldwide permanent

Airbnb has made a ban on house parties in its properties worldwide permanent in a bid to protect home-owners and local residents.

The apartment rental firm first announced the ban in August 2020 to comply with limits on gathering following the pandemic.

The policy has now been made permanent following a huge drop in reports of unauthorised gatherings.

There has been a staggering 63 per cent drop in reports of parties in the UK and a 49 per cent decline in parties in Ireland since the ban was first introduced.

"At Airbnb, we believe the neighbourhoods and communities in which we operate are as important as the Hosts and guests who use our service," a spokesperson for Airbnb said.

"We know that the overwhelming majority of our Hosts share their homes responsibly, just as the overwhelming majority of guests are responsible and treat their Airbnb listings and neighbourhoods as if they were their own.

"In turn, we focus on trying to deter the very rare cases of Hosts who do not operate responsibly, or guests who try to throw unauthorised parties."

Reports of parties in properties plummeted by 44 per cent worldwide after the ban was first imposed, the firm said.

The company said it will also remove its 16-person limit, allowing larger homes listed on the platform to be booked to full occupancy.

In 2019, Airbnb began imposing much stricter limits, starting with a global ban on so-called “party houses” or listings that create persistent neighbourhood nuisance.

More than 6,600 guests and hosts were suspended in 2021 for attempting to violate the party ban, the company said.

Author Winnie Li has previously told how she endured late-night parties and police raids after her neighbour started renting out a luxury flat on Airbnb.

In 2016 the author said she regularly has to leave her room in her apartment in the St George Wharf tower in Vauxhall to sleep on the sofa in the lounge due to noise from guests next door.

The writer and her two flatmates at the riverside development, where a two-bedroom flat costs more than £2 million, regularly faced blaring music into the early hours of the morning.

Speaking at the time, she said: “The worst thing is you can never relax. As many as 50 people get crammed in to the flat ... it is completely impossible to sleep.

“The police have to get called.

“We felt like we were trapped in our home.”

The writer said the parties had died down in recent weeks after she made a complaint.

She added: “The people who are renting it out are never there.”