Abigail Darling who has complained about the late night parties going on in a house rented out on Airbnb. Picture: Polly Hancock
More than 150 turned up to the four-bedroom 1960s terraced house in Cassland Road the weekend before last after it was advertised on social media – and it’s not the first time the house has been rented out for the night to host a party. Landlord Paul Lilley is letting the house on Airbnb and booking.com for up to £411 a night, though he says the blame lies with the management firm that looks after it.
Neighbour Abigail Darling was told by the council’s noise control officers they were unable to do anything to safely manage the situation once the party was in full swing last week.
“It was actually very intimidating,” she told the Gazette.
“The atmosphere was such that I really didn’t fancy asking them to turn the music down and the kids were petrified of me going outside.
“We were stuck on our own with no support and a whole load of drunken youths just enjoying a banging party on our doorstep.
“It was miserable and the kids were scared, listening to the screaming and shouting through the bedroom walls.”
The party only started winding down at 5am, and party-goers left laughing gas canisters, bottles and rubbish in their wake.
It was the third big party in as many months.
“I’ve checked the booking websites and it seems the place is booked out for New Year’s Eve which is filling me with dread already,” she said.
“I have the fear of god that this place will be get the rep around Hackney and beyond that it’s a banging good party venue.”
She added: “It seems there are no measures in place to stop this happening. The landlord sets the rules – these guys just act as booking agents.”
Landlord Mr Lilley told the Gazette he had apologised to Ms Darling: “I have a property that’s managed, and it looks like possibly the people that were renting the property were a bit amiss and didn’t give the full information to the management company.
“I asked the management company to apologise to the neighbours. I would normally rent the property out to a longer term tenant but we went for a refurb so I put it on a short term let.”
A spokesperson from Be the Air, which manages properties so they can be let through Airbnb, said the company’s policy is strictly “no parties, no smoking and no noise after 10pm”.
“The guests are penalised if they have parties,” they said. “I have left my telephone number with the neighbours on both sides.”
The council’s housing chief Cllr Sem Moema said: “We take every report of excessive noise seriously and are sorry to hear about the disturbance this resident has experienced. We have issued a warning to the owner of the neighbouring property and would encourage the resident to continue to report any concerns to us.”
She added: “We are continuing to work with partners at other boroughs and the GLA to push for proper regulation of the industry.”
