airbnb - Manna from heaven but a sting in the tail?

Everyone I speak to in the landlord space extols the virtues of serviced accomodation or the airbnb bounce. So many landlords in Scotland have grabbed the airbnb ball and are running with the concept. For those of you who have been living in a cave since its launch, airbnb is all about renting your property on a day to day basis - usually with a 3-4 day minimum and cashing in on the higher rent that you can get as a result of doing short term lets. Manna from heaven but there's a sting in the tail.

If you are a landlord and are reading this, are you renting your property out legitimately? If you have a standard BTL mortgage I would hazard a guess and say that you are contravening the conditions of your loan which is likely to state that you can only rent out your property under a short assured tenancy. Serviced accomodation is not a short assured tenancy!

If you are a landlord and are reading this, do you know that the tenant is in fact living in the property? Could they be doing a rent to rent ie they are subletting the property under an airbnb style model. This could not only be in contravention of your loan conditions but may invalidate your insurance!

If you are a landlord and are reading this, have you considered that your neighbours are likely to get fed up with one stag party after another hen party descending on their tenement? In all likelyhood they will get in touch with the council and then the game is likely to be up. Some councils are taking the view that you will have to have permission to trade as an airbnb. They will argue that you are using the property as a commercial entity. No permission - no airbnb.

As ever in the rental game it pays to be vigilant and vet your tenant but you also need to make sure that you are not contravening your loan conditions.