Short-term lettings in London

The money to be made from short-term lets increases the demand for housing of all types. This raises purchase prices and rents for other housing. However, this effect is not properly accounted for in housing targets, which are generally based only on household growth, which does not drive short-term limits.

If there were some ability to limit the change from long-term to short-term lets, this effect would be diminished. For example, hotels are a different use class to homes, preventing owners from switching between these uses. This is the motivation behind the 90-day limit for whole-home letting. However, in the main, it seems that local councils are either unwilling or unable to enforce this rule, rendering it powerless. Proper enforcement of the 90-day rule, along with regulating the creation of new short-term lets through the planning system, would increase the supply of homes for people without needing new building.

I think that the growth in short term rentals reduces the availability of affordable rented accommodation to tenants. The practice seems almost entirely unregulated and unchecked, there are hundreds of short term let places in Battersea alone that could and should be homes for people. Noise from parties is certainly an issue in my area.

Short term let where let is with the person living in the accommodation is a good thing as the landlord can affect tge behaviour of the person(s). But short term let without supervision, until and unless the person has been vetted can lead to undesirably people being in the neighbourhood.

As a private tenant, I'm worried that future landlords would rather do short lets as it's bigger money as opposed to letting it to families for longer. I have had no experience in our areas or residence being used for STRs. I have used AirBnb countless of times in my travels as it's cheaper and bigger than the usual hotel rooms. I have also discovered local stores and restaurants through it. In the future, I would also like to eventually have my own STR - not necessarily in London - to supplement our family income. I know both it's positive and negative effects in a community and happy to support what's best for our city.

As a resident who lives in an apartment block where a couple of 'neighbouring' properties are let out short-term I can only say its a nightmare. Those staying have no interest in, or care about, those living in adjoining properties. Late night parties, noise, music, use of balconies throughout the night, drug use, incorrect disposal of rubbish... the list goes on.

There is also a significant safety issue - use of disposable BBQs on small balconies (yes, it happens!) and threatening behaviour. Myself and neighbours have also experienced theft of items left in the building lobby which has coincided with short term lets. The legislation to support those living alongside short term rental properties is woefully inadequate.

I am completely ok with people who let out a room or part of their property when they are in residence, but full letting is the issue.

There should be stricter rules for letting out properties in blocks of flats with communal spaces and closer proximity.

I have no problem with people letting out their spare room whilst they are in residence.
We have had a lot of problems with Airbnb however when large groups of people stay in small flats in order to party the night away. Drug dealers hang around in cars to cash in on the arrangement and a lot of litter is left behind

I don't have any experience of short term lets in my local area but my family and I have used Air bnb in the UK and overseas. As others have said its a lovely way to discover an area and the hosts are usually full of local information.
Not everyone wants to stay in a hotel or B&B. Using Air Bnb you can look for exclusive properties allowing you to be independent or stay with a host.
The only issue I have is when people who own extra properties prefer to let them short term rather than have them filled by long term tenants

We let a property in our area on Airbnb .. we use it fir at least 6 months of the year but rent out the whole flat when we dont use it .. we have had families and their pets when they are having their houses done up and can continue at the local school .. they can cook their own family meals as usual and better than a local travelodge .
We have people come to enjoy Richmond park and with their pets walk the local river walks . They almost all use the takeaways on offer on ham common , fish n chips , Indian as well as the local bistro for breakfast .. Hampton court palace flower has attracted guests .. they use the local amenities as much as locals .
We provide a 5 star service and helps us with the cost of running the flat
I would like an increase to more than 90 days renting . It’s too short and I would not be ever renting it permanently because we use it .. the way people live nerds greater flexibility

In my area short term lettings have a significant negative impact overall. The short term tenants are often unfriendly, avoiding eye contact, unaware of the rules for residents, probably not their fault in some cases, this is a change over recent years. In some cases this is caused by managing agents, at the end of the term of the let they will increase the rent to renew and continue to do so. Agents usually rely on a letting fee, if the existing tenant leaves a new letting fee arises. Often this will result in the property remaining empty for weeks or months.

Letting a spare room is a different matter and does not cause me concern, on the whole I think this type of letting is more positive than negative.
However this would depend on how many spare rooms are let and to how many people occupy them.

HMO’s arise in some spare room let’s. This is a matter of particular concern to me and other full time residents in my street. The only positive is that the short term occupiers do not usually have cars…..

Hello, I am very pro the short term let market and the holiday let - we use the holiday let all over the world and some in London as well. We love to live in a really person's home for a week or whatever as it connects you to the area in a totally different way to staying in a hotel. It's also way much better value for families to stay and makes travel and holidaying a possibility for many more families. It is of great cultural and economic benefit as it brings visitors into the UK and London who would probably never have come creating a great tourist economy - vitally important to the UK now with all the difficulties over Covid and Brexit. I am not an expert if you balance the pro's of this over the con's it is of significant financial benefit to local shops and businesses. Do helpful too to with inflation and utility costs to be able to balance the home budget against letting a room or the house for periods. I also feel again freedom of choice for howe owners - there is enough red tape in our lives already!

We in Hackney are open to visitors. They support our cultural industry and local economy. We reject the close-mindedness that this survey evokes, and is also reminiscent of Brexit. Hackney is open to visitors and will continue to be. Our local community is strengthened and more interesting when it supports visitors.

I don't let out any property myself but just trying to be a voice for those who don't have one--in this case, visitors or short-term residents who come to London, look up to it, and look forward to their time here. Short-term lets shouldn't be a scapegoat for broader systemic issues.

Short term tenants have a negative impact overall. They seem to be frequent movers from one flat to another.
Short term tenants do not seem to be aware or disregard the rules for occupiers.
There me there are mostly disbenefits, employers benefit by having insecure employees in insecure accommodation

Too many properties in London are being bought up for holiday lets or extra housing for the super wealthy often by overseas buyers who make little real investment in our city.
London needs to first of all serve the needs of its permanent residents, have a mixed demographic and support those in key worker roles.
Tourism is important but should not be given priority over residents’ needs.

I have not had any experience with short-term lettings in my area or in London in general since I have always been a resident here. However I have used Airbnb elsewhere in the UK and my experience has always been good. When hotels are so expensive, it really is the only option when you need accommodation or want to go on holiday in the UK. I do have some concerns on short-term lettings though. I don't want for these types of properties to take up so much space that young families or first time buyers can't find any property to purchase in their home boroughs or areas. I think that most visitors to London who stay in short-term lettings are respectful and polite visitors but I have heard of residents complaining of noise and disruption of visitors in other European cities, so I think it could be a concern for Londoners too if every other flat is available on Airbnb. But I think that we need to remember that many people who stay in Airbnbs are young travellers and tourists who can't afford expensive hotels in the centre of town. We want London to be open to all visitors! But also want enough housing for Londoners as well. Perhaps the answer would be for the government to build more actually affordable safe housing for first time buyers and not rely so heavily on property developers building expensive flats that will be snapped up by companies or professional landlords to rent out as short-term lettings. I think the question that should be asked is how much of the housing that is built in London on a regular basis is actually affordable for most Londoners looking to buy a home?

Why can't people be free to decide what suits them with their own property.
What is this obsession with big brother state and expensive bureaucracy.
Most people adopt a flexible approach to their lives, and their circumstances mean that they want to let out a room or their house or not.
Maybe the mayor should concentrate on building some social rent homes rather than being obsessed with who lives in my own house... that's my business.

If it increases the availability of housing for longer term rentals and improves safety for guests then it has to be a good thing. Local communities thrive when there is a feeling of community spirit, how can this be achieved with constantly changing guests.

We have a housing crises, we should not be allowing tourists to rent short term for their vacations, this prevents the 2nd home from being utilised for the housing crisis!!!! The tenting of spare rooms and 2nd homes MUST be used solely for the purpose of reducing the housing crises. There are simply too many people and not enough houses. We would not need to build so many of Gov stopped the short term rentals

It is complicated. London is largely a service economy and tourism is a vital part of its economy. If tourists are limited to recognised hotels* and chains this will limit tourism to the more affluent. We should be encouraging an inclusive brand of tourism. If we advocate equality, diversity and inclusion it must include the full range of tourists not just wealthy.

We also need to ensure that tourism and tourist attractions are spread across London.

It may be reasonable to assume that if we reduce STL we would need more hotel rooms and hotels. This may reduce the amount of land available for local dwellings. It may also increase the price of available land. In some parts of London this is already happening.

Everybody accepts the need to good quality, affordable accommodation for Londoners but there is no point in having housing for locals if there are no jobs and no prospect of a reasonable income.

While it does need to be regulated and monitored, a properly controlled STL will add income to locals and to London as a whole.

*(incl. B&B/Guesthouses)

I like the idea of homeowners being able to rent out their homes occasionally to pay for holidays, bills, etc., for short-term periods much less than the current 90 days, but this practice is being abused by selfish & greedy property portfolio owners.

I had an upstairs neighbour who bought his flat as an Airbnb investment. Contrary to his 'official' story, he did not ever reside there. He illegally rented out his flat on Airbnb for more than 10 months in one year. How did he manage this when the maximum is 90 nights per year? He relisted his property under different management agencies, including his own agency. He was caught but because he had stopped doing this by the time Camden Council contacted him, he avoided prosecution. I endured 10 months of hell with noisy tourists scrambling for early AM flights and private parties, etc. He now rents out this property on short 6-12 month lets for in excess of £500 per week. A council owner in the same block pays approximately £120 for the same sized flat. This shows you how much these profiteers make at the expense of local communities. They should be criminalised if caught breaking the rules.