Airbnb bans parties and events to combat ‘irresponsible’ behaviour

Tuesday, 20 Aug, 2020 0

Airbnb has banned all parties and events from taking places at properties listed on its platform and set maximum occupancy of 16 as it looks to combat ‘irresponsible’ behaviour.

The accommodation business said confusing rules on large gatherings and changing regulations for pubs and bars have seen people congregate in homes, including those rented through Airbnb.

"We think such conduct is incredibly irresponsible – we do not want that type of business, and anyone engaged in or allowing that behavior does not belong on our platform," Airbnb said in a statement on its website.

The global party ban will apply to all future bookings and will remain in place ‘indefinitely’.

Airbnb said it had already banned ‘party houses’ – described as listings that create ‘persistent neighborhood nuisance’ – but has now extended the rules to all listings.

To ensure compliance maximum occupancy has been set at 16 people.

"We are currently in the process of communicating this new policy to our global community," it said. "We are partners with our hosts on this important issue and we both feel the pain when an unauthorized party occurs during an Airbnb reservation.

"We believe having a simpler, global policy will allow us to better support the vast majority of hosts who already ban parties in their homes."

It said people flouting the rules will be banned from Airbnb altogether and may even face legal action.

Airbnb admitted that 16 ‘is not a magic number’, and conceded issues can occur with groups of any size.

"To be clear, we are not sanctioning smaller gatherings with this policy and all community members are expected to comply with local health restrictions on gatherings," it said. "We are capping guests at 16 in these large properties as one step amongst several, all designed to mitigate any efforts to misuse an Airbnb for a party.

"We will continue to enforce our party rules against groups of any size and will be taking action both on guests and listings if we receive reports from neighbors."