Dramatic rise in wild Airbnb parties as community halls turn away young people
An event security firm says out-of-control Airbnb parties are skyrocketing, revealing more than 300 drunken youths recently trashed a Pakenham house. And the firm says there’s one reason it’s happening.
South East
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A wild party at a Pakenham Airbnb rental has left the furious homeowner with thousands of dollars worth of damage.
And event security firm U-nome is warning of a rise in Airbnb parties as young people and teens are turned away from community halls.
A woman, who hosts the Pakenham property for her dad, said more than 300 drunken youths trashed the house, which had been rented for just two people.
She said the first she knew of the party on August 3 was when U-nome Security let her know their services had been requested for an event at the Pakenham Rd house.
“I then tried to call police but they said they couldn’t do anything unless the owner was present,” the Airbnb host, who didn’t want to be named, said.
She said she and her father (who owns the property) rushed to the site and found “absolute chaos”.
“There was more than 300 trespassers,” she said.
“Police and ambulance attended the site — there were drunken teens running around and we think some could have been using illegal substances.”
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The partygoers broke the fence, smashed and scattered bottles, moved furniture, threw rubbish through the house and broke fittings.
The family wants Airbnb to tighten up the verification process when bookings are being made.
“It would be better if the company had more involvement — even verifying guests in person … it should be treated the same as renting a house,” the woman said.
U-nome Security founder Naomi Oakley, whose firm helps with crowd control at events, said she had noticed a dramatic rise in Airbnb parties because teens were turned away from hall rentals.
“We often receive queries now about this and it’s mostly because teens can’t use public halls any more — so they are lying their way to do this,” she said.
A Victoria Police spokesman said dealing with disruptive house parties was not a new issue for police, who had been responding to these problems for decades.
“We want to reassure the community that police absolutely will not tolerate any behaviour, which results in harm to people or to property,” the spokesman said.
“Victoria Police advises anyone hosting a party not to advertise it on social media, to plan for how you will respond to uninvited guests, and to ensure that a number of responsible adults proportionate to the number of guests will stay sober and act as decision makers should any issues arise.”
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An Airbnb spokesman said the company had reached out to the host again to offer support.
“There have been more than half a billion guest arrivals in Airbnb listings to date and negative incidents are extremely rare, he said.
He said Airbnb had zero tolerance for unacceptable behaviour and as a result had removed the guest from its platform.
“The “three-strikes-and-you’re-out” laws, which came into effect this year, will punish the minority of people who do the wrong thing, while ensuring the overwhelming majority of people who do the right thing aren’t unfairly penalised.”