Labour MP Rachael Maskell says she has won the support of 10 other members of parliament from across the political divide for her latest attempt to regulate Airbnb and other short let platforms.
Maskell is launching her Airbnb and Holidays Lets Licensing clause via an amendment to the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill in the House of Commons. If it became law it would require Airbnb or short-term let holiday properties to be licensed, and would enable councils to limit or deny licenses in areas with an acute shortage of housing for local people.
In York, where Maskell is MP, it is estimated that there are more than 2,000 properties listed as short-term rentals, 85 per cent of which are for entire homes rather than annexes or individual rooms.
She has told local news services: “Failure to act on this issue is adding to the daily misery of families who can’t find a home and are finding themselves forced out of their local areas, as housing supply tightens and rents …
“ … We know that in some tourist hotspots over 50 per cent of homes are now short term holiday lets, and there are little signs of this slowing down.
“We urgently need to get a grip on this situation before it is too late, but all we get out of the Government is consultation and prevarication.
“As things stand, in a city like York where there is so much planned development, there is a real risk that investors will flip most new homes straight to short term lets.
“And despite the city of York’s eye-watering investment in the site, York Central will just become another Airbnb Central.
“Talking to constituents, I also know the concentration of these properties in some communities is causing serious misery and disruption, and yet as things stand local people are powerless to do anything about it.”
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Does MP Rachael Maskell not take on board the reason for 2k Short Term let’s in York, its the removal AST and Section 21, forcing owners to get out or switch. Does she not get that, so she wants an amendment to levelling up Bill that would never have been required, creating yet another law only because of changes to the first law removing Section 21. or the abolition of the 1988 housing Act,
There are 5 Articles on here every day about Private Sector Housing. Why is there never an Article about why the 1988 Housing Act & S.21 was introduced, taking account that it’s the very foundation of virtually all Private Letting’s which is now you tell me almost 5m, so remove the foundation & don’t bat an eye lid and you think it will be fine you morons, go on give us an Article on how it was before 1988 Housing Act.
Where Rachel Maskell has got this wrong, is that landlords who are letting on a short term basis will not switch to housing families who want and need permanent accommodation whatever legislation that they introduce. As Michael says, the reason that many landlords let on a short term basis is because they don't want to lose control of their properties; nobody will hand their properties over indefinitely to tenants.
The private rental sector is NOT the social housing sector. Take a look at the legislation brought in by Welsh Labour; it distinguishes sensibly between the two sectors.
There are numerous reasons why so many landlords have chosen the Airbnb route. The far more generous taxation of holiday lets and the worry over eviction problems and timescales in traditional BTL being 2 of the main reasons.
However, wrongly located Airbnbs can and do cause misery for long term residents, so regulation or planning permission is long overdue. It mystifies me why Councils are so keen on putting obstacles in the way of HMOs, which provide much needed affordable housing, while at the same time they do virtually nothing to control the far worse ASB surrounding unregulated Airbnbs.
Quite how successful or lucrative some Airbnbs are is questionable. There's been plenty of articles about the successful ones in prime locations, not so much about the ones who have had to cease operating due to breaching the conditions on the leasehold flats people mistakenly thought they could use for holiday lets.
It must cost thousands to kit out a holiday let to a decent standard so having the proper permissions in place before making that investment would surely be a good thing?
I agree with your sentiments. I have a number of short let’s in my portfolio. They aren’t easy at all. So why do I do them? Very simple …. section 24! Overnight they became unprofitable. I make more money now than I ever did as BTL but I’d happily go back if S24 was removed as I’d rather make less money for less hassle … I switched because I made no money! One small point I would add is we all need to think carefully about our terminology. “Much more generous taxation” gives the wrong impression. It’s not generous taxation that took me to Short let’s it’s draconian and unfair taxation on BTL’s that drove me away. And if they put S24 on Short let’s I still wouldn’t go back to BTL. I know where I’m not wanted so I just go where I am.
Dominic - point taken. It can't be emphasized enough that traditional BTL is the only business in the entire country that is taxed on turnover instead of profit. Rents can only be increased at very specific times, either at the end of a fixed term tenancy if it is renewed or at least 12 months after the last increase on a SPT. If interest rates increase on our mortgages we can't immediately increase our rents but the extra Section 24 tax is charged immediately. It is a very one sided arrangement with everything stacked against traditional landlords.
From a tax point of view holiday lets make huge sense purely because traditional BTL is taxed in such an unconventional way. I just find it bizarre that something that is essential (someone's home) is caught up in such an unusual tax situation when a luxury (holiday let) is taxed less onerously.
The country is totally skint 💰💰 they need money from everyone and everything !
It's very odd, tourist destinations have always had lots of B&B. Further the elephant in the room is lmmigration, both legal and illegal.
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