The outrage of renting out residential houses for noisy overnight or weekend parties returns to plague us this summer. Peaceful neighbours in Sandbanks and Canford Cliffs will be steeling themselves to endure or to confront their unruly new neighbours and to seek out police intervention if necessary. Fortunately, thanks to prompt action by our MP for Poole, Robert Syms, the issue is already on the national radar.
Robert Syms spoke out on the topic of antisocial behaviour at party houses in the House of Commons on 8 April 2014. His full speech is on record at the Hansard website. Here is an edited version of his speech:
"I represent Poole, which is a great constituency. ... It is a very peaceful area, in which people enjoy living. Constituents sometimes have to work very hard to buy a place there.
In recent years, however, we have seen residential property being used inappropriately as party houses for stag parties, hen parties, raves and family parties. There are seven or eight homes in the area that are rented out for several hundred pounds a night over a weekend through the websites of a number of businesses. ...
I do not particularly blame the people who want to have a good time. They see the houses on the web and clearly want to enjoy themselves. The economics are that renting a private house and buying all the booze at a supermarket is rather cheaper than staying in a hotel, but the reality is that that spills over into causing trouble in a residential area. ...
The reality is that we have to do something about the issue, because it is making people’s lives a misery. Constituents are fearful to look at these homes on Friday afternoon and see the number of cars that have come in. They pray for rain because people will stay inside. They know that there will be antisocial behaviour. ...
I hear stories of elderly people barricading themselves into their homes because of the noise. A retired solicitor and his wife have bought a caravan so that they can get out at weekends and get a night’s sleep. The issue is causing real distress. ...
The police ... now have a designated officer to keep an eye on the issue. They have difficulty, because the parties are in private residential dwellings.
As a Government, we have moved a whole raft of antisocial behaviour legislation to a slightly lower threshold point, and that should be a more efficient way of controlling the situation. ...
There are appropriate areas that would welcome stag dos and hen parties to generate money and get young people in. However, in residential areas such as Canford Cliffs or Sandbanks, such things are inappropriate. Also, people cause antisocial behaviour when they have drunk a lot ... and I fear that the anger of my constituents is such that some of them will take the law into their own hands ...
I blame the people who are promoting these sorts of parties. ... By taking action either against the agents or the owners ... we need to nip this activity in the bud, because it is having a very detrimental effect on my constituents in Poole."