The Government must crackdown on short-term holiday lets which are “hollowing” out parts of London and exacerbating the housing crisis, a Labour MP has said.
London Councils estimates that one in every 85 homes in the city are currently available for short-term rent on online platforms and are subject to "virtually no regulation".
The umbrella group, which represents all 32 boroughs, said the "situation persists despite London's worsening homelessness crisis and a desperate need for homes".
Cities of London and Westminster MP Rachel Blake led a debate on the issue in Parliament on Thursday.
She said "platforms like AirBnB are not at all inherently a bad thing", but added that more regulation was needed to stop communities being “hollowed” out.
“It puts incredible pressure on our wider system and local authority finances due to the rising costs of supporting households in temporary accommodation all because there are simply a not enough affordable homes for people”, Ms Blake told the Westminster Hall debate.
Writing for the Evening Standard, she added: “There are blocks in my constituency and across London where there are only a handful of permanent residents left.
“One resident wrote to me that when she first moved in to her flat in Pimlico 20 years ago, she had neighbours, but now she’s worried about building security because of the constant turnover of strangers.”
The Labour MP has called on the Government to create a compulsory registration scheme which captures each individual property using a Unique Property Reference Number and a new planning class to be set up for short-term lets.
While homeowners can rent out their primary residence for up to 90 nights a year without needing planning permission, many councils fear that the rule is easily dodged by landlords listing properties for rent on a plethora of different websites.
Ms Blake said under the proposed reforms, online platforms should ensure they share data on the number of nights each property – identified by their Unique Property Reference Number – is listed on their sites
Anyone who wants to let out a home on a short-term basis for more than the permitted 90 nights per-year should have to submit a planning application in the usual way, rather than by via a permitted development short-cut, she added.
Airbnb has said the typical London property is rented for just three nights a month and it had partnered with local authorities to investigate rule breakers.
New controls, supported by rental websites and apps, were announced by the previous Government at the beginning of the year.
The changes meant landlords would need permission from the local council to turn their home into a short-term let.
But Conservative ministers ruled out a mandatory national registration scheme being introduced and said the rules would not apply to those renting out their main home for fewer than 90 nights a year. Only new short-term lets require planning permission, with existing ones automatically reclassified.
From July to September 2023, there were nearly 2.8 million stays in short-term lets booked in the UK through the three largest online platforms. More than half a million of these were in London, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics.
Westminster is a particular hot spot for with around 13,000 properties listed for rent.
The town hall receives dozens of complaints from residents every week about suspected short-term lets.
Westminster council is also calling on the Government to introduce a mandatory registration scheme it hopes will help combat anti-social behaviour in many parts of the West End.
Most recently the town hall said it was contacted by a resident who was forced to call police after 200 people arrived at a flat in Brewer Street and began playing “loud music, shouting and screaming”.
