A Labour MP has told the Commons that the proliferation of Airbnb – in London particularly – is damaging communities and private rental stock levels.

Rachel Blake, the MP for Cities of London and Westminster, has told the Commons: “Every day I hear from a new family struggling to stay on an even keel after they have had to move to temporary accommodation away from school and their support networks.

“Just this week, I heard from a mother who has been moved to Dagenham, over 12 miles from her daughter’s school, where she also works as a teaching assistant.

“She is realistic about how long they are likely to be in temporary accommodation and knows the state of the London private rented market, so to prevent her son from having to commute for four hours a day and to try to make sure that he has friends locally, she would like to move him to a school in Dagenham, but without childcare support that means giving up her job.

“Families across London and across the country have to make that kind of decision every day, and it is not good enough.

“It is creating incredible pressure on our wider system and local authority finances due to the rising costs of supporting households in temporary accommodation – and it is all because there are simply not enough affordable homes for people.

“The proliferation of short-term lets of whole homes is making the availability of private rented homes much worse. Of course, London is a proudly international city, and we need to make sure that flexible accommodation options are available for visitors, but we will remain a thriving international city only if we ensure that sufficient housing is available for Londoners.

“Whole homes rented out consistently as short-term lets… are making it much more difficult for communities to stick together.”

According to Westminster council – the area including Blake’s constituency – some 13,000 properties are listed as short lets in Westminster, 20% of housing stock in the West End ward are short lets, and 30,000 properties in the Westminster council borough are not occupied on a permanent basis.