New rules to give communities greater control over short-term lets in tourist hot spots, while also strengthening the tourism sector, have been unveiled by the government.
A consultation published yesterday by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities will propose introducing planning permission for an existing home to start to be used as a short term let – designed to help support local people in areas where high numbers of holiday lets are preventing them from finding affordable housing.
It will also consider whether to give owners flexibility to let out their home for up to a specified number of nights in a calendar year without the need for planning permission.
The government says it acknowledges that short-term lets are now a significant part of the UK’s visitor economy, given that they provide increased choice and flexibility for tourists and business travellers, and also those attending major sporting and cultural events.
The government says it wants to ensure the country reaps the benefits of diverse and sustainable accommodation and support the visitor economy, while also protecting local communities and ensuring the availability of affordable housing to rent or buy.
The secretary of state for Levelling Up Housing and Communities, Michael Gove, said: “Tourism brings many benefits to our economy but in too many communities we have seen local people pushed out of cherished towns, cities and villages by huge numbers of short-term lets.
“I’m determined that we ensure that more people have access to local homes at affordable prices, and that we prioritise families desperate to rent or buy a home of their own close to where they work.
“I have listened to representations from MPs in tourist hot spots and am pleased to launch this consultation to introduce a requirement for planning permissions for short-term lets.”
The new proposals come as the Department for Culture Media and Sport also launches a separate consultation on a new registration scheme for short-term lets.
The scheme aims to build a picture of how many short-term lets there are and where they are located, to help understand the impact of short-term lets on communities.
The DCMS consultation follows a call for evidence held earlier in the year, the results of which are published today and indicate broad support for a registration scheme across the sector.
Culture secretary Lucy Frazer commented: “This new world of ultra-flexible short term lets gives tourists more choice than ever before, but it should not come at the expense of local people being able to own their own home and stay local.
“The government wants to help areas get the balance right, and today we have an incomplete picture of the size and spread of our short term lets market. This consultation on a national registration scheme will give us the data we need to assess the position and enable us to address the concerns communities face.”
The government insist that it has listened to calls from local people in tourist hotspots that they are priced out of homes to rent or to buy and need housing that is more affordable so they can continue to work and live in the place they call home. The proposed planning changes would, it believes, support sustainable communities, supporting local people and businesses and local services.
The proposed planning changes would see a planning use class created for short-term lets not used as a sole or main home, alongside new permitted development rights, which will mean planning permission is not needed in areas where local authorities choose not to use these planning controls.
Both of these measures are focussed on short-term lets, and therefore the planning changes and the register will not impact on hotels, hostels or B&Bs.
The register of short-term lets is being introduced through the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, which is currently going through Parliament.
Subject to the outcome of the consultation, the planning changes would be introduced through secondary legislation later in the year and would apply in England only.
But they are going to be kicked out at the next election.
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Cannot wait everything will be FREE LOL
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Who would be a landlord these days? We perform a vital service homing people the Government can’t and everybody seems to hate us for it. Food prices rise by over 20% in some cases and energy cost soar but nobody is vilifying supermarkets or energy suppliers the way landlords are vilified for increasing rents by just 4% on average. Landlords are faced with extra stamp duty when we buy and now extra capital gains tax when we sell. We can’t claim tax relief on loan interest like any other business. We have to act as immigration officials under Right to Rent laws with fines if we get anything wrong. Now section 21 is going we are going to lose yet more control of our properties and won’t easily be able to evict for anti-social behaviour or sell up when we have had enough. We face the costs of compulsory membership of tenant biased ombudsman schemes, landlord registration/licensing schemes etc. Then there is the unique prospect of only PRS landlords having to pay thousands of pounds to upgrade the EPC ratings of their properties. There are murmurings about eviction bans especially if Labour get in, that will make paying rent optional for some tenants who will probably be feted as folk heroes for standing up to their evil landlords, also rent caps meaning extra costs can’t be passed onto tenants.
One avenue of escape was to convert rental properties in nice areas into short term holiday lets but now this avenue looks like it is set to be made more difficult to prevent landlords from doing it. The Government don’t want us to be landlords in the first place but once we in they make life harder and harder for us and then make it difficult for us to quit. One thing for sure when PRS property is sold it won’t be snapped up by the former tenants especially at the lower rent benefits end of the spectrum, these will be snapped up by middle class first time buyers aided by the bank of mum and dad or Serco to house illegal migrants now the cheap hotels are full. Where will the ex-tenants live once displaced? Rant over, nurse says it is time for my medicine!
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And all the people who currently work on changeovers in the holiday homes will be redundant and have to move out of their villages because no other jobs..
but Mr Gove probably thinks they will still have the money to buy the ex holiday let homes .. can he REALLY believe that?
The holidaymakers will fly off to Europe which of course is great to helping solve the climate change issue which the government seems to retract from the closer to the next election
they don’t need to worry, in my opinion the chances of the Tories winning the next election are less than zero, thank goodness.
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