Hi to all
I will defend Airbnb to the hilt to anyone who moans and everyone has an opinion of course. They enabled me to move to a great home and manage the bills by creating a business for me immediately and for what they charge we get a good deal. Even though the assistance programmes could have been a bit more inclusive, and I've received nothing even though I was eligible for the superhost programme, Airbnb have worked hard to do something which most companies I know of have not tried to do relying on the government instead. I appreciate the updates and the transparency.
I do however need to just fly a white flag on behalf of us who offer home stay accommodation here in the UK. There will be others like me that have lost all their business and as I have flexible policies and my bookings come at relatively short notice, I have no Income since February and nothing from the assistance programmes. I am not classified by HMRC as a business and am then not eligible for the UK self employed grant programme and because I own a property I am outside the scope of universal credit as it's means tested with the limit being £16k of savings which includes the value of property you own. There is a **bleep** of light as the government have given funds to councils to give discretionary funds and one of the key industries to be considered are those offering b&b accommodation that pay council tax. But I cannot be the only one in this position. Those companies operating holiday lets and anyone that HMRC treats as operating a business are able to access various government schemes to keep their businesses going . We have so far nothing. Im lucky to be able to keep going but there will be many struggling to pay their mortgages and bills or are panicking about having no income when payment holidays are over.
I've been now through the current Airbnb advice and I realise when I am back in business I have to reduce my offering from three to two rooms to avoid sharing of bathroom facilities. I am concerned that people will resist homestays for safety reasons so I was encouraged to see there was a cleaning protocol coming up that would enable us to show we were taking this seriously.
I then read that we are being excluded from this programme due to the social distancing side. Also it requires 24 hours between stays as a minimum.
I remember recently Brian saying that Airbnb was going back to its roots and focusing on people offering accommodation in their own homes. But excluding this now makes us look like second class citizens. If guests have the choice of a certified whole flat or a non certified homestay, guests won't be coming here.
I urge please Airbnb come up with a private room protocol quickly. We will need to get up and running urgently. Personally I estimate I am £7,500 down during the last couple of months. If others like me have similar losses this may result in people losing their homes. And we won't be able to keep 24 hours gals between guests. Most of my business is one night stays as we take all the business and offer cheaper stays for those that are coming for events or just overnights. If you are serious about focusing back to your roots and supporting homestay hosts then please do something with this .
I hope this is seen by someone who can make a difference as I fear we are a forgotten community within both Airbnb and UK tourism.
When it's all over, come to the beautiful Suffolk Coast for a perfect socially distant holiday and support UK tourism !!!
John