The government has launched a consultation on a new planning use class – or categorisation of property and land – aimed at restricting second-home owners buying properties for use as holiday lets in English tourist hotspots.
The new government proposals are a clear attempt to slow the explosion in "Airbnb"-style holiday lets and their impact on local communities.
Second home owners would now require planning permission if they want to use their property as a holiday let in certain areas. The consultation also promotes a registration scheme for holiday lets to gather data on the impact of short-term accommodation on communities.
Michael Gove's Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has published details of the parameters of the consultation on its website.
The consultation, which closes on 7 June, proposes the introduction of a use class for short-term lets and permitted development rights – or works that can be carried out without needing planning permission – to "provide flexibility where there are no local issues with such uses".
It says the increase in the number of short-term lets in certain areas, such as coastal towns, national parks and some cities can affect the availability and affordability of homes to buy or to rent for local people and on the sustainability of communities more broadly.
It adds that while short-term lets can support tourism and the local economy in such areas it is important that this is balanced with meeting the needs of the local community.
"The government is therefore consulting on planning measures that would help local areas have greater ability to control any future increase in the number of short term lets in their area and support the retention of existing properties to buy or to rent."
The consultation seeks views on the introduction of a short-term let use class. It also seeks views on the introduction of new permitted development rights to provide flexibility where short-term lets are not a local issue, and which allows for this flexibility to be removed where there is local concern. It is also concerned with homeowners might be provided with flexibility to let out their sole or main home for up to 30 nights in a calendar year.
An analysis of the explosion in popularity of the 'Airbnb' short term homes rental business by Action on Empty Homes published in October detailed the skewed impact on coastal towns.
The investigation found that one in every 105 properties in coastal areas was advertised with Airbnb in May 2019. Three years later and the figure had increased to one in 67 dwellings. three times higher than in inland communities, which has one in 196 properties advertised on Airbnb.
The scope of the consultation is:
- The introduction of a new use class for short term lets.
- The potential introduction of a new permitted development right for the change of use from a dwellinghouse to a short-term let.
- The potential introduction of a new permitted development right for the change of use from a short-term let to a dwellinghouse.
- How a flexibility for homeowners to let out their home for a number of nights in a calendar year could be provided through either changes to the dwellinghouse use class or an additional permitted development right.
- The introduction of a planning application fee for the development of new-build short-term lets.