Scots left fuming at “parasite” landlords amid holiday home boom during Edinburgh Fringe

SCOTS have been left fuming at “parasite” landlords after multiple holiday homes belonging to the same hosts were spotted up for rent during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Hope Conway-Gebbie had been scouring holiday rental website Airbnb on Sunday, when she spotted listings from landlords renting out multiple holiday homes.

The 22-year-old was in disbelief after spotting one host even renting out six separate homes for the Fringe.

Taking to social media to share her outrage, Hope concluded that short-term letting (STL) should be illegal, reasoning that they were damaging to residents looking for homes during the housing shortage.

Writing in a post on Sunday, she said: “[I] was having a nosy on Airbnb and there’s a super host in Edinburgh with six properties.

“That’s six flats people could call their home during this housing shortage but can’t because of parasites looking to bleed money out of tourists.

“I know there’s been efforts as of late to remedy this but clearly not enough. hoarding housing like this should be illegal.”

The post received dozens of likes and over 150 comments as countless outraged residents echoed Hope’s thoughts.

One person wrote: “Airbnbs have gutted Edinburgh. [The] Council spends around £300k on accommodation for the fringe, while many Edinburgh residents become homeless.

Another said: “I clean some Airbnbs but it’s so true. I wish they would all just go back to the council. Am living in temporary accommodation, been told I can be here for up to five years.

“I just feel there are too many Airbnbs.”

A third commented: “There are nearly 8,000 homes being denied to people in Edinburgh because of holiday lets.”

Another added: “I know several folk who own upwards of 30 flats.”

A fifth wrote: “I think the festival has gotten completely out of control. Drastically reduce the number of shows and that would help a bit.”

A final user said: “Wait until the house prices crash and the Airbnb owners will be choking on their greed. Karma is real.”

Speaking to Hope today, she said: “So I’d seen [a] call for dissertation participants and of course, as someone who lives in Edinburgh and has seen key boxes cropping up around the city en masse, I thought I’d have a nosy on Airbnb to check out the scale of it.

“Pretty early on in that, I realised there were lots of people with two, three, or four properties they were renting out, and then of course found someone with six.

“So, while I’m only referring to one ‘superhost’ in the post it’s more holistic, really.

“Anyway, that little nosy catalysed some pre-existing frustrations about what [short-term lets] have done to the housing market in Edinburgh over the four years I’ve lived here.

“Alongside the University of Edinburgh’s constant increase in student numbers (which they don’t actually have the resources to manage, so staff are then further overworked), the rise in STL’s means there’s simply not enough housing to go around.

“The University can only guarantee accommodation for first years so it’s a perfect storm to cause situations like we saw last September – with students living six to a room in common rooms.

“The uni has shoved bunk beds in, and families [are] being placed in temporary accommodation and then being relocated out of Edinburgh for the Fringe.”

City of Edinburgh Council has been contacted for comment.