AirBnB 'Unofficial' Deposit - best steps to ensure fairness all-round?

Inbetween1234

Hello all, I hope this is the appropriate category for this thread.

My husband and I are planning to book an AirBnB while we wait for a house purchase to go through. We've found a place local to us that is legit, the owner has good reviews, and we're able to book a few months at a time through AirBnB (so we're covered for any refunds/usual house rules).

A huge bonus is that despite being advertised as 'no-pets', the owner has kindly agreed to make an exception so that our dog can stay with us. Understandably, they would like a deposit upfront - they've asked for £800 which although we feel is a bit steep, we're happy to pay.

However, our dilemma is that the deposit will NOT be arranged through AirBnB. They have asked us to sort this between ourselves. My question is, what are the best steps we can take to ensure fairness all-round? There's a lot of trust on both sides - the owner of course is taking a risk allowing a dog, but £800 is a lot of money to hand over to stranger with no guarantees of it being returned.

flaneurs_lobster

Can't see a way round this, even if you exchange a "contract" detailing that £800 has been paid as deposit against possible damage/breakages/cleaning due to dog, what happens if the owner decides that the dog damage just happens to equate to £800?

Take the hit with the understanding that the £800 just has to be another moving house expense and you might get some returned.

Or find a dog-friendly AirBnB.

maman

I don't know if this helps but we've done a similar thing when renting a holiday villa (not AirBnB and no dog involved). It was a few years ago so we gave a cheque which the owner returned to us having checked (excuse pun) out the property on the day we left.

martindow

Is there no process by which the owner can change the level of the deposit so it could be done via Airbnb? Are they avoiding fees by doing this off the site?

There remains the potential issue of them claiming excessive costs from the deposit, of course.

TELLIT01

They will be additional fees from AirB&B as they take a percentage of the rental cost.