Relaxing rules on short lets in London could transform housing in the capital, says agent Carter Jonas.

In an interesting research paper, it says the regulation that means anyone wanting to let a property in London for less than 90 days has to seek planning permission, will almost inevitably be dropped.

Currently, those breaking the rules run the risk of fines of up to £20,000.

It points out that a number of London boroughs are vehemently against the proposed change, while others show little appetite to enforce the legislation.

In London, there are 100,000 hotel rooms trying to cope with annual tourist numbers of 16.8m.

Eric Pickles and former housing minister Kris Hopkins both referred to the relaxation of legislation as “allowing Londoners to earn some extra cash”, while Airbnb founder Nathan Blecharczyk was invited to Downing Street to discuss short-let reforms.

In Paris (annual tourist numbers of 15.5m and 80,000 hotel beds) it is illegal to let for under a year.

This is policed by a 20-strong team of enforcement officers who, in the first six months of this year, handed out a large number of fines.

In New York (11.4m tourists and 100,000 hotel beds) permission is required for lettings under 30 days.

In Barcelona (5.8m tourists and an unknown number of hotel beds) a licence is required for short-term lets and Airbnb was fined in July for breaking regulations.

The analysis is in Carter Jonas’s autumn and winter 2014 residential review.