Manchester council will attempt to stop people buying any of the 1,000 new homes on a Manchester estate to let on Airbnb and other sites, the Manchester Evening News can reveal.
The move, believed to be a first in Manchester's history, will see every privately-owned home in Brunswick covered by a strict covenant that prevents them from being used primarily for short-term lettings.
If the home is sold in the future, the covenant carries over to the next owner.
The council sees the pilot scheme as a potential blueprint for protecting other neighbourhoods in the city from the negative impacts of short-term lettings.
As revealed by the Manchester Evening News, the market is booming as Manchester's tourism industry continues to go from strength-to-strength.
Although more than half of all Airbnbs remains in the city centre, a recent council report found the market is also spreading to working-class neighbourhoods such as Moss Side and Benchill.
The report highlighted a council regeneration scheme in Beswick that has seen hundreds of run-down terraced replaced with new homes since 2004.
Many of them were sold on the open market and have been targeted by investors who are using them for short-term lets.
The report found there are now 28 Airbnb listings in a one-mile stretch of the modern housing estate called 'The Way' that is just a stone's throw from the Etihad Stadium.
The council fears a similar fate for the Brunswick estate, one of Manchester's most deprived inner city areas in Ardwick that is being transformed as part of a £100m PFI (Private Finance Initiatives) project.
The partnership with S4B will see more than 500 new family homes built, 200 for social rent and 300 for sale, and a further 650 homes refurbished.
The scheme started in 2013, but the first phase concentrated on preparation and refurbishment so the new builds have only started coming onto the market in the last eighteen months.
So far, 122 council homes for rent and 91 homes for sale have been built and a further 200 are expected for sale in the next three years.
The wider neighbourhood will see improvements to green spaces, including Gartside Gardens, the introduction of an allotment and new shops.
While council bosses recognise the wider benefits of Airbnb and short-term lets, they want Brunswick to remain a community of families.
So they are now bringing in the covenant scheme in a bid to keep the homes 'in the hands of Manchester residents'.
The council say the covenants will 'prevent properties being sold to private landlords who would likely turn the properties into short-term lets or make available as student homes (Houses of Multiple Occupation), given the close proximity to the city’s universities.
"S4B’s sales team market the new build homes directly to local people and background checks make sure that the buyers are not investors, while also signing an undertaking to confirm they will remain the owner," the town hall said.
"If a home is sold in the future, the covenant carries over to the next owner continuing to protect the community from the investor market.
"And if an owner does decide to let their home, the property can only be let to a family and must be managed through an approved agent."
Sub-letting or short-term letting as a council tenant is already a breach of contract.
The council says nine cases have already been identified and three court injunctions obtained that led to costs of more than £2,60 for residents who have broken their covenants.
It is understood enforcement action is not the council's preferred route of action, and it is hoped neighbourhood officers will be able to work with residents to rectify issues around sub-letting or short-term lets.
The new stage of the Brunswick project will involve the 60 bed Extra Care scheme which will provide high-quality accommodation for older people should they wish to downsize from their family homes.
Coun Suzanne Richards, Manchester council’s executive member for housing and regeneration, said: "Brunswick is an important estate regeneration project that will mean the neighbourhood is transformed with hundreds of new homes, new local services and facilities, and much wanted green space.
"However, given the close proximity to the city centre and to the city’s universities, Brunswick is a target for the investor and short-term lets market, so it’s vital we do what we can to protect the community from being broken up by private landlords.
"We need to safeguard family housing in the city and there are lessons we can learn from the Brunswick model.
"This will ensure that communities can continue to grow as long-lasting, sustainable neighbourhoods.
"And it also means local people are not impacted by anti-social behaviour and potential waste issues that can arise from the more negative end of short-term let businesses."
What Airbnb said:
The company told the M.E.N. it set out to make communities stronger and spread the benefits of tourism to local people.
Saying it 'led the way' in promoting 'sustainable home sharing and healthy tourism across the world', it said it would 'continue to work with local partners on how we can ensure that home sharing continues to grow responsibly and sustainably in Manchester.'
Referring to the recent report that highlighted issues with Airbnb growth in regeneration areas, the company added that although it hasn't been able to examine the Manchester Council report first-hand, 'public scrapes of our site use inaccurate information to make misleading assumptions about our community.'
"While insufficient details were provided to look into specific listings or hosts, hosts with multiple listings can be businesses using Airbnb, property managers, some working for other major home sharing platforms, and others from our Professional Co-host Programme ," Airbnb said.
"Property managers typically manage homes, check in processes and guest management on behalf of hosts and home owners when their home is free and they are out of town. These are independent companies not operated or managed by Airbnb.
"We share information about relevant rules and regulations on our Responsible Hosting pages, including information on taxation and business rates.
"There are many types of accommodation provider on Airbnb, including homes, serviced apartments, B&Bs and boutique hotels, and rules are typically proportionate to the level of hosting activity provided.
"We have zero tolerance for inappropriate activity and permanently remove bad actors from our platform.
"There have been over half a billion guest arrivals on Airbnb and, with over two million guests staying in an Airbnb each night, issues are incredibly rare."
