@peterpmoss1 welcome to the forum. Are you actually being declined, as in receiving a declined notification or are your applications not showing as read, or are they still showing as listed or reviewing? This is interesting to hear. Also, are you a new sitter?
I donāt think HOs are going to read another one of THSās new checklists 
I think some HOs are happy to snooze. And thereās only so much we, as sitters can do to push them. I do think itās only a small population of owners that do this. And in fact more owners are finding it hard to get sitters!
Welcome @peterpmoss1 , Iām fairly new to the forum myself. A nice bunch of people here.
Iād suggest starting a new thread or asking the moderators (not sure how to copy them in, sorry) to start a new thread so you can get help from the lovely forum members here on your listing (or profile). Theyāve worked wonders with listings for other HOs. This way your question gets the attention it deserves and wonāt get lost in the many posts in this thread ranting about system notifications (or lack of) and rude HOs.
@Lil well, I figure I just must be applying for the wrong sits, wrong HOās, and itās just bad luck. What else could it be. Like, I accepted a sit recently and the homeowners said they might possibly extend the number of days by nearly a week. They said, weāll let you know in a few days. Nuh ah! I need to know now, or very soon after because
1. You will need to update the listing to include those dates and
2. I need to know for transport bookings, next sit bookings, basically to know my next moves as I basically need back to back as many sitters do
They are new homeowners and didnāt know how things work but we sorted it out and they learnt a few things also. Lovely, lovely people, just didnāt realise.
Just checked a couple of listings I applied for, some go back two months or more when I was actively looking then. Still reviewing.
Are HOs finding it more difficult to get sitters? I guess that must be anecdotal, I canāt see THS making data on unfulfilled sits public.
I agree that there seems to be a small subset of HOs who donāt get that itās an exchange. A little more courtesy and respect would go a long way. Oddly some of these HOs are commended for their communication in reviews.
Yes HOs having difficulty finding sitters is anecdotal. I see lots of threads in the owners category of this forum, eg
Or threads by owners saying theyāve not received any applicants for x weeks.
For the UK, I donāt think popular places like London, Bristol, Bath have problems getting sitters but I do see a lot of the remote sits (or those not accessible by public transport) with 0 or low applications.
But makes sense that some sits will not be as popular with everything going on - hybrid / return to office, Middle East making flying difficult, cost of living , immigration crackdowns , people not wanting to go to the US
We had a āsitā a couple of years ago, which went well. The house and especially the garden have developed (including a plunge pool), and weāre suprised to have received only 1 brief response, (who cancelled at the same time as offered). It is not an easy site to view and Iām wondering whether I am doing something wrong in āpromotingā the house/us?
@peterpmoss1 I also suggest that you start a new topic so that members can possibly help you with your situation. As Lil said, your question can get lost in this topic so starting a new one might give you the answers you need. I wish you luck 
Itās very strange that there should be an increase in HOs not finding sitters and at the same time sitters not getting any response forn HOs, or even their applications read. Something is not working with the THS matching process. A simple nudge to HOs wouldnāt be difficult to implement i.e. you have x unread messages in your Inbox over y days old. If that doesnāt prompt any action then perhaps the listing should be suspended and unable to view. All just pipe dreams, but there we go.
I agree @anon52083843 on your points
This would be brilliant! Sitters should get nudges too if theyāve got unread messages.
Quite right and if they donāt respond to any reminder messages then their applications should be removed.
I donāt trust THS to implement this correctly. You will have cases where the THS system thinks owners have unread messages or havenāt replied, or the timing of the HO reading the unread message missed by THS, and then the listing erroneously suspended 
But definitely the initial nudge should be there to tell us weāve got unread messages.
Unfortunately, THS seems to exist in a bubble thatās isolated from member feedback and suggestions or requests for improvements. Witness the recent sitters check out guide, didnāt anyone ask for this? I know this forumās mods say they pass on to THS suggestions etc, but it seems to me they are just put into file 13 and left to rot.
I wonder if itās just another example of modern mores, in which completely to ignore communications is considered acceptable - the norm, even. cf. Casual no-shows and appointments self-cancelling unless āconfirmedā.
That wouldnāt explain the messages which are simply not being read, though. Iāll be keel-hauled for suggesting this, but I wonder if it really is a generational thing. Not dissing the Under-40s, but I canāt help seeing a link between the fact Iāve never had these experiences and the fact Iāve only applied to sits where the HOs were around retirement age.. The one time I did apply to a much younger HO, she was so erratic and flaky (e.g Three video calls were set up; she no-showed for each of them) I gave up and withdrew.
I might be totally wrong and it might be a technical problem. Or something else altogether. But I do wonder..
I definitely agree with you about a generational thing for some areas. Have found this to be the case this trip with London applications. Three I have applied to and zero read from all, and all three still in reviewing after forever. Looking at reviews, all past sitters were young. The two sits I have managed to pickup are both older homeowners in probably not so young city environments. Iāve always had this thought. The ones going unread now are a mix of generations though. Who knows, all I can do is keep trying and Iām definitely watching these other unread apps with interest for future reference. Iām only talking about this issue as I have never, ever had the problem before of unread, unresponsive and remaining reviewing
@ziggy one explanation could be they have found their sitter and have taken it off site because of the fees. All sorted. No need to worry about the system or other applicants any more.
@Brightlight that has been my exact thoughts. Itās just all too weird and this sounds like a very plausible explanation. Guess Iāll never know! Still watching all those sits I applied to, just to see how long they are up, then it might give me a clue as to if our thoughts could be a strong possibility.
@ziggy if they are in popular destinations and stay open until the start date, then disappear, and theres never a review, that would be my guess.
Iāll be watching closely 
If it turns out to be the supposed case, the new booking fee has a lot to answer for with messing people around. Iāll only have a general idea once the start date is here so innocent until proven guilty lol