Airbnb now ring fences money on pending reservations

I used to use airbnb a couple of years or so back. I am sure they have changed the way they now treat pending reservations. Correct me if I am wrong – you used to be able to send out multiple reservation requests – someone would accept your request and then you would pay. No problem. Now I have recently started using airbnb again and it seems you make a reservation and it automatically becomes a pending reservation and your money is ring fenced out of your bank account. For example I am trying to book somewhere for 3 days time in London maybe at a cost of £600ish for the week. I have one pending request outstanding and they have not yet accepted. The profile says within 24 hours so as it stands they have 8 hours and counting. If they don’t accept by tomorrow I may have to make 2 additional requests to ensure booking. This will mean £1200 ring fenced for (as airbnb states) what can be up to 5 days! I preferred the old booking procedure for obvious reasons.