Hamilton police urge Airbnb owners to be cautious after claims three homes burgled

Waikato police are urging Airbnb owners to only let out their homes to people with verified identities following at least three incidents in the past month where host properties have been burgled.

Sergeant Paul McRoberts confirmed police were aware of a string of Airbnb properties in Hamilton being burgled recently - but would not say the thefts were linked.

“Based off the information provided, police are immediately aware of at least three incidents in the last month where properties being used as Airbnb [stays] in Hamilton have been hired out and then subject to a burglary,” McRoberts said.

“All three reports are currently under investigation and we are following lines of inquiries in relation to these incidents. There is nothing at this stage to suggest they are linked and we are currently investigating them as separate reports.

“It is a timely reminder to anyone who has a property which they let out via sites such as Airbnb to be vigilant about who you are allowing to stay in your property.”

A post on a local Hamilton resident’s Facebook page also alleged there had been a spate of robberies in the area at Airbnb residences.

The post claimed there had been more than 10 Airbnb rental properties that had been stripped of belongings.

“Easy access through renting the property, cut the cameras, then they are bringing [a] truck in at night/early morning and [stripping] the house bare. So if you know [your] next door property is an airbnb, or see someone moving house at midnight (keep an eye out) call the cops straight away ... Look after your neighbour and neighbourhood,” the post said.

McRoberts urged hosts or neighbours to let police know as soon as possible of any suspicious activities or behaviour.

“Always ensure you are only letting to people who have verified their identities. Keep payments and guest communications within the Airbnb platform if you can,” he said.

Anyone with information can contact police via their local station or through the 105 reporting line.

In 2018 a survey by AA Insurance found one in seven hosts reported some form of damage to, or theft from, their property from leasing.

But this relatively high incidence, in a small sample size of 77, did not discourage the hosts from continuing to rent their properties.

Of those hosts who experienced damage or theft, four out of five said they planned on having more guests over the next six months.

Jeremy Craw is one such Airbnb host who hit the headlines in June after his Dunedin property was visited by more than 100 young teenagers holding a boozy party.

After one of Craw’s Kaikorai neighbours alerted him, he called police to break it up, and discovered the person who had rented his property was only 14.

Craw said while there was no major damage to his property, the incident was a wake-up call.