Access to our Airbnb

[Kay1980]

Hi all.  We live next to a working farm and to get to our house (and airbnb annex) we travel down his private drive/track, ¾ mile.  Obviously we have legal access/right of way to use this track to get to our property (as stated in the deeds of our house).  Since posting my Airbnb online, our neighbour (the farmer), has sent us a letter from his solicitor informing us that we have no right to use his track for our 'Holiday Let'.  I can't find anything online to suggest who is in the right and thought I would ask here before consulting a solicitor.  I am sure that there is a difference in a 'Holiday Let' and an 'Airbnb' as we are not working as a legal business.  Have any of you come across this before?  Many thanks

[Kay1980]

That's how I see it too, renting a room isn't a business, is it?  My other property on Airbnb is a property I share with my brother and we have turned that into a business, as cheaper to run as one (council tax gone mad in North Wales!)

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Kay1980 

So unfortunate, and so stressful!

The others' comments are things I agree with. @Helen3 @Shelley159 @Mike-And-Jane0 

Good advice from good people. 

If you get with a solicitor, some terms may be changed a bit, maybe not.  I'd predict that a "Holiday Let" is your business, and "Airbnb" is the booking platform.  A solicitor may investigate any business limitations of the easement, take you out of the discussion, thus easing any escalating tensions with the neighbor, and facilitating negotiations to a peaceful and mutually agreeable solution. You and the neighbor need to have peace. Stress between neighbors doesn't serve anyone.

Best of luck, and please give us all an update.

[Gary1337]

Hello Guys-I share a driveway with an AIR BNB in the states.  My personal opinion is the farmer is grasping at straws for anything that will take.  Having traffic from a rental is much different than having traffic from even a busy residence.  Even if the people operate on the drive respectfully it just creates a different feeling for the neighbor. As a neighbor to an AIR BNB, if you are making money from this-it is a business.  Maybe not legally but your mindset should be a business one. This means the customer (guest) is deserving some leeway and the host will tend to accomodate them.   What I can suggest is being as open and honest as possible.  Understanding that you have invested interest in this new situation, and he really doesn't.  If you still have a good relationship, try to keep.  I do not have a good relationship with my neighboring air bnb and this is mostly due to his lack of effort and communication in the beginning from him.  I have things happen at my home that if I even had a neutral feeling towards the host probably wouldn't bother me.  But I feel that when something happens, I will be entirely on my own to resolve or fix it.  This feeling has me way to involved in his business as I feel I have to be ready to stop something before it gets out of hand.  I say this because there have been issues already and were not handled the best.  

Good luck.  I do not know what type of hosts you are but the fact you are asking I would have to assume decent ones as you are trying to fix it.  

[Rebecca]

Hi @Kay1980 👋

It's been a little while and I wondered if any of the lovely answers below help you resolve the issue? If so, it's always a lovely gesture to mark it as the best answer. It's like a big virtual hug to the member who supported you but also to support other Hosts who may have similar questions in the future. 😊