Newbie - can I offer individual rooms for rent in 4 bed flat without staying in property myself?

[Amanda2724]

Hi all, hoping to get a little advice please.  We have a 4 bed flat in North London, we have been renting to tenants as standard single let on a year-long contract.  It's in an amazing central location near the tube and amenities and we are considering looking at Airbnb instead.  I've looked at listings in the area and it seems there are not many 4 bed flats listed - I'm guessing not many people will want to rent something this big for short-term?  Is there an option to list individual rooms on Airbnb if I'm not going to actually be living in the flat?  Not sure if this is even allowed, and/or how it would work with regards to other occupants and probably not wanting strangers turning up  - is it a possible option  should I just stick to rent entire place only?   Thank you for any help!

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Amanda2724 First problem is that London will limit you to 90 nights rental per year. Second issue is that if you are not there who will arbitrate between the guests if one is noisy and who will keep the shared spaces clean and tidy. It can be done and people have done it but it is fraught with difficulty.

[Amanda2724]

@Mike-And-Jane0  thank you so much for your reply - ah I have just learnt about the 90 night rule! I think this probably blanket rules it out as we'd get more on a long term AST.  Is there any way to apply for any kind of exemption to this - or is there a way to offer long term stays on Airbnb?

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Amanda2724 you can apply for planning permission to run a short term rental but @Gordon0 will tell you it is rarely (never?) granted.

[Kia272]

@Amanda2724  In my personal opinion, this is the worst set-up for an AirBnB. It's allowed, but as @Mike-And-Jane0 mentioned, it can be utter chaos and hard to manage with 4 strangers sharing space. It generally leads to unhappy guests and poor reviews. 

What you could do is rent it as a 1 or two bedroom and block off the other bedrooms, OR you could have someone live there as an in-home host for reduced rent/free/however you choose to arrange it, and they could "manage" the property for you if you then wanted to rent the other rooms. 

Good luck. Kia

[Amanda2724]

thank you so much @Kia272 !

[Helen3]

What are you going to do with the flat out of the 90 day limit @Amanda2724 

And I wouldn't assume there isn't a demand for four bed flats - it's just as you know in London there aren't that many.

do your market research London is an oversaturated market with falling demand for many hosts.