[denton-scratch]

The AirBnB that is my "neighbour" is run by a property manager - they run a chain of apartments on behalf of the owners. They aren't letting a room in their home; they live in another city. The owner seems to be an investment banker who lives overseas, and never comes here.

From a landlord's point-of-view, their proposition is attractive: guaranteed monthly rent, they handle all admin, they hire cleaners.

From a guest's point-of-view, it's good too; they have a full schedule of bookings and get rave reviews (this is a very attractive location). The standard of decor is high.

But from my point-of-view it sucks, because they've degraded my owner-occupied home into a hotel suite, except with no concierge, no mailroom (the visitors have access to my mail deliveries), and no onsite manager.

[yeputons]

> the visitors have access to my mail deliveries

How does that happen? Don't you have a lock on the mailbox at the very least?

[denton-scratch]

There are three flats, each with its own front door opening onto a shared stairwell; and a common front door that opens onto the street. The main front door has a mail slot. There's no 'mailbox' - mail deliveries land on the doormat. Someone picks it up and puts it on the first three steps when they come in or go out.

This works fine as long as my neighbours are actually neighbours. If they're some random tourist from anywhere in the world, not so much.

[yeputons]

Wow. Is such system popular where you live? What country is it, if I may ask?

Looks like a flatmate-like agreement for me, but on a house level for whatever reason.

[denton-scratch]

This is the UK.

This is not a "house" - if it were a house, it would be a six-bedroom mini-mansion. There are separate houses on this estate, and two larger blocks of flats. The larger blocks have entry-phones and so on. This is the only block with as few as three flats.

They are nice flats, luxury even, in an amazing location. Unfortunately the developer (early 80s) went broke, and so there are some loose ends that were never properly dealt with, especially the handling of rubbish, and the whole matter of investment properties, empty properties, and ultra-short lets. There are no children.

As I say, it would all be fine if my neighbours were neighbours. Even if I didn't like them, we'd have a shared interest in making things work. I don't have to like my neighbours; I just need to be able to find them, so I can talk to them about issues. The landlord of this AirBnB property lives 600 miles away, in a foreign country, and has never lived here.