To get a snapshot of the current situation, BBC Verify developed photo-matching software which analysed images from 37,000 adverts for “entire” homes on Airbnb in London on a single day.
The investigation found about 1,300 listings had reused identical images – such as the same furniture, rooms and decor – from other supposedly unique listings.
The software flagged a larger number – about 1,700 – but after manually reviewing a sample we removed a quarter that were likely to be legitimately reusing photos, such as stock images of London, or multiple flats in one building.
The findings suggest hosts are widely using a known method for dodging the 90-day rule, allowing them to extend short-term rentals beyond what the law permits by creating duplicate listings which have not been picked up by Airbnb.
A previous BBC investigation found some property firms were touting tactics such as changing addresses or re-photographing the same house.
Airbnb said it used software featuring an inbuilt “counter” to stop anyone from renting out short-term lets for longer than 90 days, and that duplicate listings of the same property to evade enforcement were in breach of its terms.
The counter begins from the moment a property is listed.