Owner of iconic house with 25ft shark sticking out of its roof LOSES battle to rent it out as £1,000-a-night Airbnb
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The owner of a house with a 25ft shark sticking out of the roof has been told by a Labour-run council that he must stop renting it out as an Airbnb. For the past several years, Dr Magnus Hanson-Heine has rented out the house for short-term stays, with a single nights stay costing more than £1,000 during peak periods.
![[The iconic house has been available to rent on Airbnb for several years]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/17/09/93224291-14200823-image-a-65_1734428414102.jpg)
It became one of the most famous and photographed homes in Oxford after Dr Hanson-Heine's father, Bill Heine, had the 'Jaws' like shark crashing into the roof erected as a protest against warfare and bombing. In July last year, Dr Hanson-Heine appealed Oxford City Council's order to stop renting out the property as a short-term holiday let.
![[Dr Hanson-Heine has now received a note from the council ordering him to stop using the property as a short-term let by March 11, 2025]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/17/09/93224295-14200823-image-a-68_1734428483970.jpg)
Now, however, a planning inspector has sided with the local authority, meaning Dr Hanson-Heine has until March 11 next year to stop renting out the property. He believes it is a move that will hurt Oxford's tourism industry and leave it 'significantly poorer'.
However, the planning inspector found that while the house - known worldwide as the 'Headington Shark House' - represented a 'very modest reduction' in Oxford's housing supply, it was inappropriate for short-term lets. Under the council's own planning rules, short-term lets should only be allowed in the city centre, in allocated sites in district centres or on Oxford's 'main arterial roads where there is frequent and direct public transport to the city centre', the BBC report.
