A SHOCKING video demonstrates the unbelievable number of holiday apartments in Edinburgh as dozens of key boxes line the capital’s doorways.
The video, filmed in Edinburgh’s popular Grassmarket area on Friday, shows over 20 key boxes bolted to the walls of the surrounding buildings.
The boxes are thought to be used by owners of various holiday lets to store the keys between visits from holidaymakers and tourists.
The clip begins with an unidentified cameraman filming Grassmarket, which lies under the shadow of looming Edinburgh Castle.
The man pans the camera around the bustling streets, saying: “Lovely Edinburgh, doing more on Airbnb, been told the key is in the key box.”
A man narrates whilst panning his camera around the bustling streets, saying: “Lovely Edinburgh, doing more on Airbnb, been told the key is in the key box.”
The man then points the camera at the doorway of the building next to him, revealing a staggering number of key boxes littered on the surrounding walls.
He points the camera at each key box, saying: “It’s none of them, it’s not that one, it’s not that one or that one or that one.”
The camera then turns to reveal even more key boxes haphazardly hanging from a drainpipe next to the doorway.
The man then wanders over to a blue door next to the drainpipe which boasts a further five lock boxes of its own, repeating: “Nor is it that one, that one, that one, that one or that one.”
As he pans the camera over to a stairway across the road, the man then tells the viewer he believes he knows where his key is, adding: “I’ve been told it’s on a railing of a fence, I reckon it’s over there.”
The video was shared to social media last week with the caption: “Airbnb and key boxes.”
The clip received over 10,000 likes from social media users with hundreds of comments left from concerned locals.
One said: “Airbnb, a great idea that has ruined the housing in so many cities.”
Another added: “I can see why Edinburgh have put a ban on new Airbnbs.”
A third replied: “Airbnb sounded like such a good idea when it first started.”
Another commented: “I think I might go into the key safe business.”
A fifth responded: “The sooner we ban Airbnb’s, the better.”
Airbnb was launched in 2008 and is thought to be worth over $8 billion a year in revenue according to recent filings.
Edinburgh City Council had sought to crack down on the licensing of Airbnb style properties in June this year but their legislation was ruled in part to be unlawful in August leading the council to amend parts of their licensing which was due to start yesterday.
Homeowners who wished to let out their whole property on sites such as Airbnb would require a licence as well as planning permission from Edinburgh City Council.
