THE owner of an short-stay ‘Airbnb’ let is facing legal action for continuing to advertise rooms in a Govanhill flat despite two council bans.

Businessman Ahmed Boutoubane has been issued with two enforcements - only a handful have been issued by the local authority - for the four-bedroomed flat at 15 Victoria Road over a catalogue of complaints.

They centre on the frequency of lets anti-social behaviour and anti-social as well as poor management of bookings.

Neighbours say they frequently assist guests who have been left waiting outside the building, unable to get into their rooms because the host does not turn up.

In one case a man attending the TRNSMT festival, who had travelled from Southamptom, waited from 12pm to 5pm - missing hours of the event - and was forced to arrange other accommodation in the city centre.

Michael Smith says Mr Boutoubane, who operates under the name Roayme bnb Apartments and promises guests “peace and comfort” on his website, then tried to charge him a late check-in fee.

Other complaints include rubbish being dumped in the hallway and stairwells, drunken guests banging on doors and buzzing different flats to gain entry and the secure entry door being left propped open to allow guests to enter.

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Residents claim the two bedroom flat at 15 Victoria Road was converted into four bedrooms without the requisite planning consent - the council is looking into this - and fire doors were ‘replaced or removed entirely. They say CCTV was also installed in the close without neighbours consent.

The owner was told by the council the flat must only be used for residential use only in October 2017 and again, two months ago but is continuing to advertise rooms on sites including Booking.com, under the names Alladin Nights and Lakasbah Rooms.

While council regulations actually forbid short-term lets at a flat which has a communal close entrance, enforcement action is ‘complaints led’ which means most owners are free to do so if they are operated responsibly and do not attract complaints.

However, it is understood Mr Boutoubane, who also runs a language school in the West End and another flat in the area and is originally from Algeria, is being treated as a ‘test case’ by the council because he has defied two enforcements.

Options open to the council include an interdict or referring the case to the Procurator Fiscal.

Neighbours claim Mr Boutoubane tells them to “move house” if they challenge him over problems.

One neighbour said: “Nearly every day we have guests waiting in the hallway with suitcases.

“Myself and other residents often end up looking after the guests when they have booking issues and I have even given them lifts into town to help find alternative accommodation.

“With the constant people coming in an out it has caused multiple security issues.

“As the host is not always there we have found the front security door being propped open so that guests can enter the building.”

Read more: Glasgow to call for tougher short-term let restrictions after second ban

The Evening Times has also been shown tribunal papers which show that a Mr Boutoubane, owner of a property in Barrington Drive in Glasgow's West End, was taken to court and ordered to pay back rent arrears totalling more than £2000, for a property in Lanark, dating from July 19 to September 30, 2018.

Michael Smith, from Southampton booked one of the rooms on Expedia for the TRNSMT festival in July.

He claims he waited outside the building from 12pm to 5pm, made 23 phone calls and missed most of the first day of the festival because he was unable to check in.

He says he was forced to search for a hotel, late that night in the city centre and ended up forking out £400 for two rooms. He later received a voucher from Expedia covering the cost of the £170 cost of the room.

He said: “I’ve been coming to TRNSMT for the past three years and there’s a bit of black mark on it now.”

The Evening Times contacted Mr Boutoubane and his response was: “I don’t have to tell you anything.”

A Glasgow City Council spokesman said: “Our planning enforcement team is considering – in partnership with our legal team – the most appropriate action to take in this case.”

The Evening Times contacted Airbnb, Expedia and Booking.com.