Government commits to short-term holiday let registration

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has confirmed that the government is committed to introducing a registration scheme for short-term holiday lets.

Sunak stated at PMQs that he was committed to delivering a new ‘Tourist Accommodation Scheme’ that will ensure short-term lets have to register with local authorities and will monitor their impact on local communities.

He stated this in response to a question from Nickie Aiken, Conservative MP for Cities of London and Westminster, who said that Westminster alone has 13,000 Airbnb properties, which she said could cause “real issues for local communities”.

The prime minister said this scheme would “increase appropriate regulation of the sector” and allow the government to “better understand and monitor the impact on local communities”.

UKHospitality has long campaigned for the introduction of a registration scheme in England to cover short-term lets and brings them in line with the rest of the industry.

Kate Nicholls, UKHospitality chief executive, said: “I’m very pleased to hear the Prime Minister commit to delivering a Tourist Accommodation Scheme that will include short-term lets and it is clear recognition that the Government has listened to the concerns raised by UKHospitality.

“The astronomical rise of short-term lets, through home-sharing platforms, meant that legislation and regulation was not able to catch-up quickly enough and these sites have been operating without the oversight or tax obligations as the wider accommodation sector.”

She added: “A registration scheme that can deliver this not only levels the playing field across our accommodation outlets, but also delivers huge guarantees and benefits for the consumer too.

“It’s crucial that the entire sector is operating to the same standards, for the good of business, the economy and the customer, and we look forward to working with the Levelling Up Secretary on it.”