Short-term lettings in London

More homes are being let out on a short-term basis every year.

How is this trend affecting you and your neighbourhood?

Take our 5 minute survey.

Thank you to everyone who had their say in our survey.  

We’ve analysed what you told us and shared this with City Hall’s Housing team.  

The Mayor has now submitted a response to the government’s call for evidence on short-term lettings. Your contributions, though not weighted to London’s population, have been really helpful in shaping this.  

Here are the main points of his consultation submission: 

• The Mayor wants to see a short-term lettings sector that is properly regulated and protects long-term housing supply. This can only happen by equipping local authorities and courts with the powers, tools, and resources they need to act where necessary. 
• A register with strong verification of identity and clear penalties for being unregistered or registered with false information will be a valuable tool for local authorities in England. It will also help detect housing fraud and breaches of London’s 90-night limit on short-term lets. A register of short-term lets should be part of the forthcoming Property Portal and capture both the properties and the landlord letting them.  
• The Mayor believes that short-term lets are a benefit to London and to Londoners who want to supplement their income. Responsible landlords make a positive contribution to London’s tourism and business accommodation mix. 
• However, the effect of short-term lets on housing supply at a citywide level is a concern - especially if the sector continues to grow against a backdrop of poor enforcement. Several inner London boroughs and the City of London have very high densities of short-term lets. If more homes near high streets and cultural centres are converted into short-term accommodation, Londoners will have to live further away. This will worsen the sense of community in London’s inner neighbourhoods.   
• The government should delegate the power to disapply the Deregulation Act (2015) to the Mayor. This will allow local authorities facing serious issues with unlawful short-term lettings to be better and more responsively supported. Requests for a direction to disapply the Act should be well evidenced and balanced against the benefits that tourism bring to London’s economy.   

Here’s a summary of what you told us:
 

Booking accommodation through a short-term letting site 

62% of you said you have booked a whole property and 34% booked a private room. 

You are much more likely to book such accommodation outside of England: 82% of you booked a whole property abroad, and 66% a private room. 

A few of you have rented out your own accommodation, with 7% renting out a whole property and 9% a room in your home. Most of these short-term lettings takes place in London. 

Most of you thought it was acceptable when somebody lets out a spare room in their property whilst still living there (87%) or when somebody goes away and lets their property out during this period (80%). You felt it was not acceptable when a business lets out one or more properties they own (49%) or when somebody lets out a second home (48%).

Impact on London 

About half of you (53%) have noticed properties in your local area being let out through short-term letting sites such as Airbnb, Booking.com or SpareRoom. Asked what you felt this did for London in general, 54% of you said it was bad, 26% said it was good, 11% felt it made no difference and 9% didn’t know. 

About half of you felt that short-term lettings were good for London’s economy, with 16% very positive and 33% fairly positive. Your biggest concerns are about the impact on availability (71%) and affordability (71%) of housing. You’re also concerned about the impact on the community sense in your area (67%) as well as issues with noise and rubbish (57%). 

Currently, landlords in London cannot let property for more than 90 nights a year on a short-term let without first receiving planning permission. 50% of you felt this should be shorter, 23% said it should stay the same, 20% said longer and 7% didn’t know. 

The majority (76%) of you felt positive about the government’s proposal to create a mandatory national register of landlords who offer short-term lets. 

The government will now consider the evidence submitted. 

In the submission, the Mayor called for the government to delegate the power to disapply the Deregulation Act (2015) to the Mayor, so that boroughs facing problems with high densities of short-term lets can be fully and responsively supported. 

City Hall will continue to monitor short-term lets in the capital, including in the upcoming annual Housing in London report. This will be published on the London Datastore website later this Autumn. 

Update 19/07/2023

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, is calling on the Government to help protect London’s housing supply from being decimated by short-term lets.  

More than 80,000 properties are listed for short-term let in the capital. This large number of homes lost to short-term lets is making London's housing crisis worse by pushing up rents.

The Mayor is calling on Ministers to help him bring accountability and transparency to the sector.

Read the full press release.