Building trust in our local communities

Building a safe, trusted community doesn’t end with hosts and guests. The neighborhoods you host in are an important part of the equation, and maintaining trust within these neighborhoods makes our entire community stronger.

We know that disturbances from Airbnb guests or visitors can have a significant impact on hosts and their local communities. So we’ve been working on a few important initiatives to help prevent those types of disturbances from taking place, and to give neighbors a better way to report them when they do.

You may have heard the news about Airbnb’s “party house” ban. We want to clarify that we aren’t prohibiting authorized parties and events. We know that most parties booked through our platform are organized by respectful guests for things like family reunions, baby showers, corporate off-sites, and more.

Instead, our goal is to address the small number of guests who act irresponsibly and those rare listings that become persistent neighborhood nuisances. With that in mind, the new “party house” ban covers:

1. All “open-invite” parties and events
2. Any large parties and events in multi-family complexes, like apartment buildings and condos

What happens if a guest throws a party in my space without my permission?
Any type of unauthorized party—meaning a party that violates House Rules and is thrown without the consent of the host—is prohibited in all listings. First, we’re working to stop these parties before they even start by strengthening our risk-detection technologies. When they do take place, depending on the level of disturbance they cause, the guest will be given a warning, or may face suspension or removal from the platform.

What is considered an “open-invite” party or event?
This is when a guest or one of their visitors hosts a party or event with limited knowledge of the attendees. If a party is advertised on social media, or charges an entrance fee at the door, that’s a pretty good indicator that it’s an “open-invite” event.

I host in a multi-family complex. What’s considered a “large” party or event?
These are large parties or events like weddings, baby showers, corporate events, or something similar. This type of event is now prohibited in apartments and condos, even with the host’s permission and even when there’s a restricted, invite-only guest list.

Does this ban on “open-invite” parties or events apply if I run a boutique hotel, professional event space, or other traditional hospitality listing?
If you run a more traditional hospitality listing, you can set your own rules around open-invite parties. Still, even for these types of listings, Airbnb will monitor for any complaints and follow up with these venues as needed.

Can I still allow guests to host parties in my single-family home?
We’ll continue to allow hosts of single-family homes to make their listings available for closed-invite parties and events, which you can specify in your House Rules. We know that a “single-family home” can range from a farmhouse listing without any neighbors nearby, to a quiet residential street where even small gatherings are potentially disruptive. So we prefer to address these on a per-listing basis as opposed to a sweeping policy, which could unfairly impact certain hosts.

There are lots of nuances, but our goal in all cases is simple: If the parties are negatively impacting neighbors and we receive complaints, we’ll take appropriate action. We’ll start by working with hosts with affected listings to change their House Rules to prohibit parties. If complaints persist, hosts may be suspended or removed from the platform.

When a property that’s listed on Airbnb is causing a disturbance—whether that’s excessive noise, a disruptive party, or unsafe behavior—members of the local community can report it using our Neighborhood Support page. Until now, though, that tool hasn’t been easy enough for neighbors to find or use. So we’ve been hard at work revamping it, and we’d like to share some of those changes with you.

Making it easier to access Neighborhood Support
Community members can now find Neighborhood Support in the list of links at the bottom of Airbnb’s homepage and all other main pages. They can also access the link right from a phone without having to download the Airbnb app.

Connecting the community to emergency services
The Neighborhood Support page now provides a link to local emergency services, so if a community member is facing an urgent safety issue, they can get the help they need right away. They’ll also have access to the new Neighborhood Hotline number, where they can report a party that’s still in progress.

Communicating with Airbnb
We know that in the past, we haven’t been good enough about keeping members of the community in the loop once they’ve submitted a concern on the Neighborhood Support page. Now, when they report an issue, they’ll get a message from us explaining what happens next.

We know there’s more work to be done—but these are critical steps toward elevating trust and safety on the platform and within the neighborhoods that hosts call home. As always, we want to keep the lines of communication open until we get this right, so please keep sharing your feedback, and we’ll keep working on improvements that benefit the entire Airbnb community.

Information contained in this article may have changed since publication.