Glasgow seeks court enforcement of Airbnb ban
UK: Glasgow City Council is seeking a first-of-its-kind court interdict to shut a short-term rental property which will not comply with enforcement.
A property on Victoria Road in Glasgow’s southside was ordered to shut last year after complaints of noise and anti-social behaviour but is still being advertised.
Let out by Ahmed Boutoubane, the property is advertised as a “luxurious Moroccan guest house”, the property is currently listed on Booking.com. The names that the property is advertised under will change intermittently.
Currently, the council can either refer the case to the Procurator Fiscal or acquire a court interdict. Enforcement action can be issued to anyone with a material interest in a property.
A spokesperson for Glasgow City Council told The Herald: “The council is considering legal action in light of the failure to comply with the enforcement notice.”
Council planners currently say they have sufficient evidence to demand a court interdict for the purpose of enforcement. According to a spokeswoman for trading standards, the council believes the property may have breached advertising guidelines.
The Herald attempted to speak with Boutoubane, but he declined to make any further comment. He did, however, claim he was not the owner of the property.
Scotland has been planning to add greater restrictions on short-term rentals since January. The government had initially planned to have country-wide legislation in force by next year but delayed efforts until 2022 to give municipalities more time to create local restrictions.
Glasgow has currently been under heightened lockdown restrictions since mid-September, after a resurgence of Covid-19 cases. This included bans on household visits and a limit on pub visits.
Residents and campaigners in Glasgow initially requested an extension to a ban on short-term rentals in the city, worried about public health, However, housing minister Kevin Stewart noted that there were no grounds for delaying their reopening.
