The Latest Breaking News from Airbnb

It was great for a while. Then people started finding their ‘host’ was a lettings agency, says Guardian columnist Emma Brockes

Kirsty Kindness, 40, who lived in Annan, was found dead by friends at the premises in the south-west of England where she was also planning to visit Torquay.

The current housing crisis has renewed debates about how to regulate short-term rental platforms such as Airbnb. The international research on the impact of these rentals is clear: when landlords “host” tourists rather than residents, housing supply is depleted, rents rise and neighbourhoods change.

House hunters looking for a bargain and a bit of privacy might be tempted by a picturesque cottage dubbed Britain's "loneliest" home which has just had its asking price slashed