I am so confused where the line is drawn around the the third party rule.
Is this within the rules or not? The house is a big cottage in the countryside.
"The main requirement for the sit is to provide backup to our daughter and her two sons who live onsite. Accommodation is in a self contained airbnb attached to the house - The dogs all live in the house next door with our daughter. "
Iâd be ok with that
I guess it would just be strange seeing the hosts daughter and her sons every day of the sit. Wouldnât feel very private.
Donât apply then.
I donât think it is any sort of violation since you are not sharing living quarters with them, and they are letting you know upfront there are other people on the property.
That we would be living in a totally separate space would be besides the point though. Having two people in close proximity whom I donât know , no idea how frequently I would be interacting with them, and what these interactions may be like, would just be too much of a wild card for me.
As far as the third party rule, I think the only thing truly not allowed without question is having people living in the home while the sitter is there.
As far as other types of peopleâcleaners, gardeners, people occupying other residences on the property,etc.âI think the host is required to let the sitter know about such people, and they can decide if they are okay with that or not. I donât think THS would be trying to tell people they are not allowed to have their cleaning woman come, or canât use the service if they have a renter living on a totally separate house on the property. I think the main thing with these circumstances is informing the sitter and getting confirmation from them that it is okay. And if it isnât either they donât take the sit or perhaps they wouldnât have these people come during their absence.
Thank you 
So no breaking of rules, but does pose some big changes to the standard experience.
I was disappointed as the listing shows this big house, then you read the small print and realise you would not be staying in it lol.
Ive seen quite a few what i call
"Look at what you could have had "
listings
@RR12345 are you responsible for the dogs or not -without more information it seems odd that dogs are in living the house but the sitter is not .
Does this mean that tsiould be at the beck and call of the daughter at all the times or are there specific responsibilities ( like walking the dog once a day ) outlined in the responsibilities section .
Any potential sitter would need to clarify the expectations of this host .
One concern could be that your agreement is with the host who might have reasonable expectations of a sitter (e.g walk the dogs once a day ) but on a daily basis you will be dealing with their daughter who could have entirely different expectations ( âMum said youâre staying here to help outâ ).
If I was considering such an arrangement I would ask a lot of questions about the responsibilities expected and make a decision based on that .
The terms actually says that
« 5.2.13. ensure your home is vacated for a Sitter throughout the duration of the Sit , and that no third parties will interfere with the Sitterâs enjoyment of your property;»
So it is «your home» that should be vacated. Not an airBnB flat.
And the third party should not interfere with the sitters enjoyment of your home
Can easily see that this would breach against both.
The air bnb is also their home and that will be vacant for the sitters use.
There is nothing to suggest the family will interfere with the sitters enjoyment of the property.
All that us required is communication in respect of the care of the dogs, which appears to be part time as it is backup for the daughter.
As long as you have good communication with the daughter i really do not see a problem.
I would be happy 
@RR12345 Yes it definitely would change the experience since the host not being there is the whole reason people need sitters and they are used to being there alone.
My husband and I have really flexible open schedules and are very much the go-with-the-flow-type, but if we were to consider an arrangement like this, I would need some more specific details of what they are looking for us to do.
I would mainly be interested in knowing why they need the assistance. Is it because of something like being busy with work or school and they are not home for long stretches, or is something like the the host not fully trusting them to take responsibility for the animals in their absence?
And yes, I have seen listings where you see this big beautiful property and then they say you will be living in the guest house. I take a pass on sits like that. It kind of makes me feel like âstaff.â Though I appreciate people may have a variety of reasons for this arrangement and it isnât some automatic indicator the host is not hospitable, or is not treating the sitter as an âequal.â
I prefer more spacious accommodations and it wouldnât be enjoyable staying in a much smaller space when there is some luxury house sitting right there.
Before thinking about this sitâŠâŠ
Iâd want to know what this backup actually entails - is it more than just looking after the dogs.
Iâd want to see pictures of this, and a list of the amenities. Thereâs Airbnbâs and thereâs Airbnbâs
Iâd skip this listing, but some folks would be fine with it. That makes sense to me â not all sits have to suit me. The only Q is whether it violates terms, which it doesnât sound like.
I donât regard the premises my renter use as «my home» even if it is part of the property I own and live on.
For me this can also be an important sign of whether someone is «my equal» or not. Do I trust them with my home? It is actually the same within the home: Which room are you offered? The most comfortable for you to stay in? Or what I find adequate - for you?
It would be different if one give the sitter the choice - to use the home or the guesthouse - to use the master or the guestroom. That would be different, because the guest or sitter would be able to choose what is most desireable. Sometimes they would then choose the guesthouse/ guestroom. But to be put there is a signal of how one is regarded. And in my interpretation of the THS ethos and terms then the host offer their vacated home while theyâre away.
It is added problems with this sit as the responsibilities are not clear, and I would think there was a risk for familymembers popping by to the «home» at undisclosed intervals.
Maybe it is a situation where the main home is actually the daughterâs home, and she lives there with her husband and children and 3 dogs.
Maybe the mother (and father?) live in an attached in-law unit and help out the daughter as needed. Maybe this unit is also rented out as an Airbnb sometimes.
I suspect there is more to the story, and it could actually turn out to be a really nice Sit experience. It all depends on the characters and the accommodations!
You donât regard your property in that way but that doesnât mean that others think the same as you.
Iâve already stayed in 2 granny flats attached to the main house with no issue at all. I usually sit alone so I really donât need a big house but really loved the outside space and local area. Both times i have been given keys to access the main house if i needed anything.
At no time have i ever felt that i have been treated with anything less than a hand of friendship.
From what Iâve experienced so far HO usually indicates that sitters will be staying in a guest room rarely the master bedroom, i really donât see this as any different.
This situation has nothing to do with how the HO regards the sitter. The main house is not available because the daughter is living there.
The responsibilities is for discussion on a video chat, which i would suggest should involve the HO and the daughter.
That is incorrect. The 3rd party rules state no one can enter the house that you are in, even family members. A renter on the property is totally different then a gardener or house keeper. A renter on the property is Not allowed.
Donât listen to the, donât apply then responses! It is up to TH to be clear with the rules and to enforce them
While it doesnât seem like anyone would be entering the petsitterâs accommodation it sounds like you have to communicate with the daughter about when you would be watching the pets as the backup sitter. Itâs too vague to me about when I would actually be sitting. Are you on-call and need to be always available if needed. ?
It could be violating THS by not cleary listing the responsibilities and requiring the sitter to go through a 3rd party for instructions for sitting.
I flagged a sit to THS a few days ago as in the description it said they have boarders.
From that alone I couldnât tell if the boarders were elsewhere on the property or not, but then I read a recent sitter review.
That review said something like âwe were unsure about this sit as weâd be sharing the house (and a bathroom) with someone else, but it all worked outâ.
Reading that I was like waitâwhat? So I notified THS.
Another sitter review noted the HO ran a B + B and had a glamping pod on the property that was rented.