AIRBNB BAN ON ‘PARTY HOUSES’ GOOD NEWS FOR MUSKOKA COTTAGERS WHO COMPLAINED ABOUT ROWDY NEIGHBOURS
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com
MUSKOKA — Party hardy no more if you’re an Airbnb user in Muskoka.
Airbnb has made its ban permanent on parties at the homes listed on its site for short-term rentals.
So no more “open invite” and “chronic party houses,” they say.
However, Airbnb is also lifting the limit of 16 people at rented properties, reports say.
The ban doesn’t affect private owners who have for decades rented out their summer retreats to at first offset taxes and later cashing in on the boom in week- and weekend rentals that bring in thousands a night for some multi-million-dollar cottages in some cases and many others operating as small traditional seasonal resorts.
Muskoka cottagers have in recent years complained that users through their renters have kept them awake at night and generally made life hell for them at their summer season retreats.
And they were heard as some lakes councils in the district have or are in the process of enacting licensing for short-term rentals and in Gravenhurst’s case calling for tenants to sign good behaviour agreements and abide by a code of conduct that includes being nice to your neighbours.
So that’s good news for them.
But Airbnb is also lifting the limit of 16 people at rented properties, which many Muskoka cottages can easily accommodate.
The popular San Francisco company believes it temporary ban has worked, saying Tuesday reports of parties at listed properties dropped 44% from a year ago.
They say that more than 6,600 guests were suspended last year for related violations.
Airbnb began to crack down on parties in 2019 after a fatal shooting at a party in a house in California. At that time, the company prohibited advertising parties at Airbnb locations on social media.
The company says the number of parties at Airbnb locations increased during the pandemic, as people moved gatherings from bars and clubs to rented homes. That led to a temporary ban in 2020.
The 16-person cap was prompted by health concerns before vaccines against COVID-19 were available.
The firm says the rule has become “much more than a public health measure” since it was introduced in August 2020.
“It developed into a bedrock community policy to support our hosts and their neighbours,” according to the international firm headquartered in San Francisco.
It adds exceptions to the global ban may be made for “specialty and traditional hospitality venues” in the future, it added.
“Removing this cap is meant to allow those hosts to responsibly utilise the space in their homes while still complying with our ban on disruptive parties.”
The company started putting restrictions on parties in 2019. It banned “open-invite” parties and so-called “chronic party houses” that were a nuisance to neighbours.
During the pandemic, Airbnb introduced an indefinite ban on parties in the “best interest of public health.”
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