Airbnbs are becoming a hotbed for crime with an increase in rentals causing the number of robberies, burglaries, thefts and violence at holiday rentals soar.
A Cambridge-led study revealed there would an extra 1,000 robberies a year in London if there was a 10 per cent spike in Airbnb properties.
Urban sociologists say the rapid pace at which crime rises in conjunction with new rentals suggests that the link is related more to opportunities for crime, rather than loss of cohesion within communities - although both are likely contributing factors.
Dr Charles Lanfear from Cambridges Institute of Criminology, co-author of the study, said: We tested for the most plausible alternative explanations, from changes in police patrols to tourist hotspots and even football matches.
Nothing changed the core finding that Airbnb rentals are related to higher crime rates in London neighbourhoods.
While Airbnb offers benefits to tourists and hosts in terms of ease and financial reward, there may be social consequences to turning large swathes of city neighbourhoods into hotels with little regulation.
Has YOUR Airbnb been targeted? Email matt.strudwick@mailonline.co.uk
Airbnbs are becoming a hotbed for crime as the number of robberies, burglaries, thefts and violence at holiday rentals soar
MailOnline reported in September how a fraudster tenant secretly subletting a landlords flat on Airbnb, leaving him with a £20,000 bill
MailOnline reported in September how a fraudster tenant was secretly subletting a landlords flat on Airbnb, leaving him with a £20,000 bill.
Rohann Divanji, 39, has spent the last year fighting his tenant in a costly legal battle as well repairing the trail of destruction left behind in the two-bedroom apartment in Canary Wharf, east London.
Mr Divanji, a product manager at a tech firm, claims that in October 2023, his new tenant somehow bypassed employment and credit checks on OpenRent by claiming to be a data analyst on a salary of £78k-a-year.
However, this was all part of a scam and the landlord became embroiled in a nightmare that saw him forced to spend £2.5k on legal fees to evict the tenant, £5k on damaged furniture and stolen goods on top of the six months of rent he has lost, which would have been £15k.
Meanwhile, Leanne Newton was left gobsmacked when she discovered that a fitness influencer was subletting her London flat on Airbnb to tourists for £190 a night to fund a life a luxury.
Ms Newton caught her tenant Ifende Uzoka, a four-time bodybuilding champion and fitness influencer who boasts of yacht trips in Dubai, flogging the Stratford flat on Airbnb and Booking.com.
At this nightly rate, Uzoka - who signed a tenancy from October 2023 - could make as much as £69,350-a-year despite paying Ms Newton £22,800-a-year (£1,900-a-month).
She is now battling to have Uzoka evicted and alerted Newham Council, Airbnb, Booking.com and the Met Police but no one was intervening.
MailOnline made attempts to contact Ifende Uzoka for comment but did not receive a reply.
Founded in 2008, Airbnb is a giant of the digital economy, with more than five million property hosts on the platform in some 100,000 cities worldwide, the study observed.
A landlord even watched the tenant from hell walk out with the furniture he had paid for (pictured)
Shocking CCTV shared with MailOnline shows two men brazenly walking through the block of flats with the landlords belongings, including a washing machine, before loading it up into a yellow van parked up outside
Pictured: When landlord Rohann Divanji got the flat back, he returned to smashed glass doors and further damage
London is one of the most popular Airbnb markets in the world, with an estimated 4.5 million guests staying in a London Airbnb during the period covered by the study.
Dr Lanfear and his University of Pennsylvania co-author Professor David Kirk mapped data from 13 calendar quarters - January 2015 to March 2018 - onto Lower Layer Super Output Areas, or LSOAs.
These are designated areas of a few streets containing around 2,000 residents, used primarily for UK census purposes.
There are 4,835 LSOAs in London, and all were included in the study.
Crime statistics for six categories - robbery, burglary, theft, antisocial behaviour, any violence, and bodily harm - were mapped onto LSOAs populated with AirDNA data.
The researchers analysed all forms of Airbnb lets, but found the link between active Airbnbs and crime is primarily down to entire properties for rent, rather than spare or shared rooms.
The association between active Airbnb rentals and crime was most significant for robbery and burglary, followed by theft and any violence.
No link was found for antisocial behaviour and bodily harm.
On average across London, an additional Airbnb property was associated with a 2% increase in the robbery rate within an LSOA.
This association was 1% for thefts, 0.9% for burglaries, and 0.5% for violence.
Dr Lanfear said: Crime seems to go up as soon as Airbnbs appear, and stays elevated for as long as they are active.
He continued: A single Airbnb rental can create different types of criminal opportunity.
An Airbnb rental can provide an easy potential victim such as a tourist unfamiliar with the area, or a property that is regularly vacant and so easier to burgle.
The association between active Airbnb rentals and crime was most significant for robbery and burglary, followed by theft and any violence
A very temporary occupant may be more likely to cause criminal damage.
Offenders may learn to return to areas with more Airbnbs to find unguarded targets.
More dedicated Airbnb properties may mean fewer long-term residents with a personal stake in the area who are willing to report potential criminal activity.
The study noted that Airbnb has taken steps to prevent crime, including some background checks as well as requirements for extended bookings on occasions popular for one-night parties, such as New Years Eve.
Airbnb said that measures such as its party ban were not introduced until 2020, after 2018 when the study data ended.
An Airbnb spokesperson said: This report is misleading as it fails to account for a general rise in crime rates and seasonal travel peaks in London, which have a far greater impact on crime than the cited, decade old data.
Listings rented for more than 90 nights a year on Airbnb account for just 0.17% of homes in London.
Airbnb creates new income for families, businesses and communities, boosting Londons economy by £1.5 billion last year alone while supporting over 16,800 jobs.
Bram Gallagher, director of economics and forecasting at AirDNA, said: The findings show only a small correlation between short-term rentals (STRs) and some types of crime, similar to other tourist-related activities like restaurants or hotels in aggregate.
Importantly, the report dispels concerns that STRs undermine community cohesion, finding no evidence to support this.
Overall, the data reinforces that STRs function much like other traditional tourist accommodations rather than creating new types of risk, while bringing economic benefits of tourism to local areas.
The research is published in the journal Criminology.