{"id":14975,"date":"2022-03-17T12:22:13","date_gmt":"2022-03-17T11:22:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.countryfile.com\/?p=110662"},"modified":"2022-03-17T12:41:15","modified_gmt":"2022-03-17T11:41:15","slug":"airbnb-rival-launched-on-scottish-islands-that-benefits-local-communities","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/rss_feed\/airbnb-rival-launched-on-scottish-islands-that-benefits-local-communities\/","title":{"rendered":"Airbnb rival launched on Scottish Islands that benefits local communities"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Mark Rowe\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Thursday, 17 March 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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Holidaymakers seeking to vacation on Scottish islands can now book via a social-enterprise rival to Airbnb that reinvests profits into affordable housing and community projects.<\/p>\n

The move has come among frustration from islanders, across Shetland, Orkney and the Inner and Outer Hebrides, that ever-greater numbers of properties are rented out for tourism.<\/p>\n

The consequences for communities can be severe, with local families and single people unable to get on their local property ladder and forced to move to the mainland. Meanwhile, schools, shops and pubs close in the face of dwindling year-round populations.<\/p>\n

Now Rhoda Meek, a digital consultant and crofter on Tiree has launched IsleHoliday<\/a>,\u00a0which seeks to redress some of the imbalance. She decided to act in frustration, sparked when she saw a property-for-let in Tiree and wondered if she could buy it and put it on a long-term let. \u201cI snapped because the money involved was just bonkers,\u201d she says. \u201cDespite being in good employment, the only way I could have afforded the mortgage payments would have been by renting the place out as a holiday let.\u201d<\/p>\n

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