Crazy shark house banned from Airbnb

In Oxford, UK, a seven-metre shark crashes through the roof of an ordinary suburban house. 

It’s an unusual sight in the quiet residential street. Since the 1980s, it has been catching the attention of bemused bystanders. 

The sculpture was first created in 1986 by artists Bill Heine and John Buckley as a protest against nuclear warfare and the US bombing of Libya. 

They built the shark in secret without planning permission, and it took six years for the council to agree to keep it. 

The shark house is currently for rent on Airbnb for over $2000 a night. 

However, the local council has ordered owner Magnus Hanson-Heine to stop renting the property out for short-term lets.

The ban will start from 11 March 2025. 

“They call it a short let property but I have been renting it out for about five years now – very publicly,” Hanson-Heine previously told The Sun. 

“Then about five months ago I got a message saying it was a change of use to short let and I didn’t have planning permission for that.” 

Hanson-Heine inherited the shark house from his late father, Bill Heine. 

In his opinion, the battle over planning permission undermines the purpose of the artwork, which he says was a protest against government control. 

“Yes it was an anti-war protest and was meant to be surreal, but it was put up very intentionally without planning permission.

“The thought behind it was that the council shouldn’t be able to determine what people do with their houses.” 

Earlier this year, Hanson-Heine appealed to the planning inspectorate but lost the appeal.