Legal Q&A: how can I stop my neighbours renting their flat out on Airbnb?

Question: The leaseholder of the flat above mine uses it for short-stay holiday lets like Airbnb.

It can cause an awful lot of noise, with children running up and down the corridors of the flat often from 6am, to adults wheeling suitcases along the floor when arriving late at night. Then there is loud music to put up with and even parties.

My lease states that my flat must only be used as a private residential flat in the occupation of one family or a cohabiting couple. Presumably, my neighbour’s says the same.

I would not have bought my flat last December had I known about the holiday letting. What can be done?

Answer: When selling residential property, the contract package should include various forms completed by the seller, one of which is the Law Society Property Information Form, or PIF.

The seller must disclose in this form any disputes or complaints — or anything that could lead to a dispute or complaint — about the property being sold or one nearby.

If the flat above was being used for Airbnb before your vendor sold to you, then he almost certainly had cause to complain about it, which should have been disclosed in the PIF.

Speak to the solicitor who acted for you in the purchase to establish whether there was misrepresentation on the part of your seller.

The lease of the flat above should indeed be in a similar format to yours and holiday letting and Airbnb could breach the covenant in the lease, as the flat is not being occupied by one family or a cohabiting couple.

Report the situation to your landlord, who should require the leaseholder to cease holiday letting, remove the flat from the Airbnb website and cancel future bookings. If that fails, you can apply to court to enforce the terms of the lease.

These answers can only be a very brief commentary on the issues raised and should not be relied on as legal advice. No liability is accepted for such reliance. If you have similar issues, you should obtain advice from a solicitor.

If you have a question for Fiona McNulty, please email legalsolutions@standard.co.uk or write to Legal Solutions, Homes & Property, London Evening Standard, 2 Derry Street, W8 5EE.

We regret that questions cannot be answered individually, but we will try to feature them here. Fiona McNulty is a solicitor specialising in residential property.