Landlords and other property owners are potentially seeking to avoid their legal responsibilities by advertising the property as a holiday let on sites such as Airbnb.

According to new research by the Residential Landlords Association, nearly two-thirds of all listings on Airbnb in London are for lets of 90 days or more.

That, says the RLA, could be contravening the law which says that lets on a short-term basis can be for no longer than 90 days per calendar year.

The analysis shows that 65% of all listings on Airbnb in London are available for more than 90 days per year, while 64% of entire homes and apartments – as opposed to bedrooms – are available for more than 90 days per year.

Nearly 7,000 entire homes or flats are multi-listings where hosts have more than one listing, and of these, 78% are available for more than 90 days per year.

Through advertising longer lets, property owners could be avoiding having to give tenants secure tenancy agreements and protect deposits, while not meeting safety standards.

A further potential abuse of holiday letting sites is for existing tenants to advertise rooms for sub-letting without the consent or knowledge of their landlord.

A survey of members of the RLA found that 15% of landlords have experienced tenants advertising a property or room on lettings sites without asking for permission.

Those taking up the lets have no insurance protection should there be an accident in the property, have no protection for any deposit requested and could face immediate removal once the landlord finds out.

Landlords whose properties are sub-let without their knowledge could also face problems under the new ‘right to rent’ legislation as they will not have been able to check the residency status of tenants, and also could unwittingly fall foul of HMO licensing requirements.

The RLA is calling for an urgent review by the Government and the Mayor of London into the use of holiday letting sites and how to clamp down on potentially criminal practices by property owners and tenants.

Alan Ward, chairman of the Residential Landlords Association, said: “The growing popularity of holiday letting sites such as Airbnb raises serious questions about their potential for abuse.

“Ministers must act to clamp down on those property owners using the website to deny tenants safe, legal and secure accommodation. Landlords also need support to address illegal sub-letting of properties by their tenants.”

Details of the RLA’s research can be found here