New controls on holiday lets in England will be introduced from the summer to stop local people being unable to afford to live in their own community, the government has announced.
- The changes mean people may need to seek permission from the council to turn their home into a short-term let.
- A mandatory national registration scheme will also be introduced to give local councils information about short-term lets in their area to help understand the effect on communities and ensure compliance with health and safety regulations.
- The rules will not apply to people renting out their main home for less than 90 nights a year.
- Hotels, hostels and B&Bs are also unaffected by the changes.
- The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said councils would have the power to require planning permission for properties to be turned into short-term lets, if they deemed this necessary.
- Only new short-term lets would require planning permission, with existing ones automatically reclassified.
Alan Davies (Associate Director) commented “‘if they deemed this necessary’ suggests the legislation will not be automatically applied across England, but similarly to the existing ‘Article 4 direction’ legislation, Councils will need to apply the controls to a given specific geographical area, and possibly seek public opinion before confirming the control comes into effect.”
When the specific legislative details are known, Chapman Lily Planning will publicise the details.