MP presses Airbnb to get tough on landlords who evict families to turn homes into holiday lets

This morning, local MP Tim Farron met with bosses from Airbnb to challenge them on the worrying rise of local people and families evicted from their home in the Lake District so that their landlord can turn it into a holiday let.

During the meeting, Tim urged Airbnb to publicly declare that they will not accept onto their books any properties where the landlord had made the property available by getting rid of the local people or family who lived there under a section 21 no-fault eviction.

There has been a 32% increase in the number of holiday lets in South Lakeland over the past year. Tim told Airbnb that this sharp rise in holiday lets is actually hurting the tourist economy, with the shortage of homes exacerbating the current staffing crisis.

Tim said: "I'm grateful for the opportunity to meet with Airbnb and I'm pleased they said they understood the problems that a surge in holiday lets is having for local families struggling to find a home.

"However I remain deeply concerned that letting companies like Airbnb are doing nowhere near enough to discourage landlords who shamefully throw out their tenants so they can make more money letting out their property on the holiday market.

"While the Government continues to drag its feet over taking the proper action that would stop this from happening, companies like Airbnb have the chance to do the morally right thing and say no to these landlords."