With over 80,000 Airbnb listings in the UK, and a rising number of new hosts in Dorset, there’s been a notable increased focus on fire safety in homes where paying guests stay overnight – especially after a number of fire break-out cases being reported recently. Airbnb Action have partnered with the Chief Fire Officers Association and have been vocal in their commitment to ensure fire safety is a priority for all hosts:
“We’re committed to putting safety first and we encourage every host to install working smoke & carbon monoxide detectors in their listing and to check them frequently” Airbnb Action
Leaseholders
Always check the terms of your lease and also the property insurance documents for permission.
First and foremost, your lease documents should be the first port of call to find out if there’s any restrictions on subletting. It’ll read something along the lines of ‘parting with possession’ of the property without the freeholder’s consent, now this doesn’t mean you can’t ever sublet, you’ll just need written permission in order to do so – there’s implications to mortgage terms and insurance documents.
Freeholders
Always check the terms of your mortgage and the property insurance documents for permission.
If you’re a homeowner looking to let your property, whether Airbnb or to a long-term tenant, then you could run the risk of invalidating the terms of your mortgage – worst case scenario being repayment request by the lender. Most lenders won’t look kindly on their borrowers hosting their whole home, especially without permission, but most will agree on a spare room or two being let at a time.
Rented tenants subletting Airbnb privately could invalidate the landlord’s insurance. When it comes to safety within a property, the landlord’s insurance covers you, the tenant, but chances are it won’t cover subletting airbnb, so if there were to be fire damage caused by sublets, then the landlord won’t be able to claim and could risk losing thousands.
For homeowners, insurance documents could be the final hurdle to letting on Airbnb. Insurance companies have differing attitudes towards home sharing – so if you don’t check, you’re running the risk of invaliding the property’s insurance altogether. It’s always worth a call, ask for host protection policy information from your insurer.
