Tuesday, 26 Nov 2024

Sunak apologises to neighbours for rowdy ‘party house’ AirBnB

Fed-up villagers from Chelmsford have complained about a 20-person AirBnB party house that used to be a 17th-century pub. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak personally apologised for the inconvenience caused by the premises as he launched his war on anti-social behaviour at Chelmsford Boxing Club. The Government is set to spend £160million on bringing down anti-social behaviour. As part of the plans, AirBnb hosts will register on a database so rowdy short-term holidaymakers can be easily monitored.

Since Mr Sunak’s apology, the AirBnb’s neighbours have recorded the roaring sound of the venue.

In the video, music can be heard blasting out from a speaker in the middle of the day.

Essex Stays at The King’s Head in Chelmsford has a hot tub, a karaoke room, and a cocktail bar. For £2,100 a night, groups can rent the staycation venue.

Jeff Jones, a 73-year-old neighbour who with his wife moved into a three-bedroom detached house behind the venue in 2010, confronted the Prime Minister over the “party house”.

He said the pub was closed in 2018 and bought by a company that then applied to run it as a “short-term, self-catering holiday let”.

Mr Jones said: “The new owners assured us that there would be less activity than when it was a pub, and they would do their utmost to keep the noise down.

“We lived next to the pub for years, so we expected a bit of noise. But the problem with this venue and others which advertise on places like Airbnb is that there is no supervision.”

According to Mr Jones, the venue’s clientele – holidaymakers, hen dos, and corporate partygoers – receive a code to get in the venue and are then “left to their own devices”.

He claimed they don’t have an alcohol license and that people bring their own drinks, or hire a cocktail waiter which requires a temporary license every time.

He added: “They might be partying in the garden all afternoon long. It means we have to sit indoors with windows closed and the TV turned up if we don’t want to hear the loud music and bad language.”

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Mr Jones said he has complained about the venue to the council, who have compiled logs of disturbances, several times. He said a council officer sometimes arrives but still no changes have been made.

“It disrupts your life. Some of the noise is very loud, even in the afternoons. It means you can’t hold Zoom meetings because of the background disturbance.”

Chelmsford MP Vicky Ford invited Mr Jones to listen to the Prime Minister’s announcement at Chelmsford Boxing Club, where he would directly confront Mr Sunak.

The angry neighbour is worried about a large “igloo” see-through pod in the back garden that could be used for glamping.

Another neighbour, Charlie Carrington, said she has moved her five-year-old son to a different room in a bid to get away from the blaring noise from the Airbnb.

She said: “The noise sometimes makes my TV rattle and it is impossible to sit in the garden with friends because you can’t hear each other.

“There was one Saturday in particular when there was a noisy group from London. They were using foul and racist language, so I had to take my son out of the house as I didn’t want him to hear it.

“The igloo pod in the garden makes things worse because they can sit in there and keep warm for longer.”

Other neighbours, including Thomas Green, 32, and his wife Lauren, 29, have also complained about the venue.

The two were shocked by the noise after they moved into their house at the back of the AirBnB last summer.

They are expecting a baby in July but said the idea of having to shut the windows if the heat reaches 40C again was “nerve racking”.

Thomas said: “Most Friday afternoons, we find ourselves looking at their car park, and wondering how many people are going to be staying. It has made life difficult.

“We have complained to the council about five times with phone calls and online, but a lot of the time we don’t bother.”

However, other neighbours aren’t so bothered. One man told reporters he doesn’t have any problem with it and would rather have the building in use than be empty.

The source said: “The couple who run it are very nice. They are always polite and respectful to me.”

As part of the Government’s fight against anti-social behaviour, it has vowed to make nitrous oxide or “hippie crack” a class C drug. It has also pledged to increase policing around England and Wales in areas with high levels of low-level crime.

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