Plans for ‘Airbnb’-style apartments slammed by locals 

Locals have slammed plans for nine short-term hotel apartments on Gloucester Road.

Developers plan to replace the old NatWest building on the junction between Gloucester Road and Shadwell Road with nine serviced apartments that would be managed individually, with stays available from five to 180 days.

Honour Properties, which run student flats and serviced apartments in Cheltenham and Bristol, plan to keep the commercial space below, and turn the upper floors and rear into ‘Airbnb’ style fully serviced apartments.

But dozens of objections have flooded into Bristol City Council, with many locals arguing the ‘Airbnb’ style apartments will attract parties, noise, and congestion in the area.

Only locals on the Gloucester Road side of the site were notified of the proposals on September 28, and residents of Shadwell Road believe they have been shut out from plans as they would have stronger objections.

“No parking is being made available, and the surrounding streets are already utterly full of parked cars. The neighbourhood cannot take any more vehicles,” one resident said.

Residents say the plans would cause traffic and parking congestion on Shadwell Road off Gloucester Road

“At a time when Bristol is in the midst of a huge housing crisis, why on earth are we proposing to build very short term Airbnb type flats? This seems absolutely crazy,” said another neighbour.

Another resident added: “Short-term flats, such as those on Airbnb, are not a sustainable solution to the housing crisis.

“They are often more expensive than long-term rentals, and they can displace local residents, driving up rents and making it even harder for people to afford to live in their communities.

“This type of short term lets, particularly in this type of location, are notorious for attracting groups seeking to hold parties. These very short term lets also perpetuate precarious housing problems and harm communities.”

Under the plans, the flats would be managed by Honor Properties, who would arrange lets with guests, provide a laundry service, arrange cleaning and collect rubbish.

But some locals argued the site is a residential area that is crying out for affordable housing.

“Bristol doesn’t really need any more short term lets. The development should be to house people who want to live in the area, long term,” they said.

“Local communities in this area are hard to build due to the already large amount of student housing. Turn it into some affordable housing for those most in need.”

One neighbour suggested that short-term apartments would be better suited to the city centre, where there are less concerns about noise and congestion.

“These type of apartments clearly are more appropriate in locations like the city centre which would meet its guests’ needs, not at the bottom of a residential street already struggling with parking pressures, where residents’ social well-being will undoubtedly be made worse as a result of the development, for zero wider social benefit,” they said.

There are almost 1,500 homes in Bristol that could have people living in them permanently – but are being rented out as Airbnbs instead.

Statistics from Inside Airbnb, found that out of a total of 2,329 Airbnb properties, 1,494 were listed as ‘entire homes or apartments’, with 200 of these in the Ashley ward area, which Gloucester Road sits within.

All photos: Rania Albuheissi

Read next:

• Major city centre housing development could have no affordable housing
• Former pub turned into serviced apartments
• ‘A housing crisis should never be used as a reason to wreck the soul of our city’

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