Second homes need planning approval to be Airbnb rentals

Councils will be able to force owners in tourist areas to get permission for short-term lets

SECOND-HOME owners who want to let houses on Airbnb will be forced to get planning permission from this summer, Michael Gove has announced.

The new reforms to planning rules will mean that local councils will be able to force homeowners in tourist hotspots to apply for planning permission to rent out their properties as short-term lets.

A new mandatory national register will also be created to keep track of the number of short-term lets across England and how they are distributed.

Homeowners will be subject to planning permission if they let out their main and sole property for more than 90 nights a year, bringing them in line with Greater London rules. Outside the capital, there are currently no planning requirements on short-term lets.

Mr Gove, the Levelling Up Secretary, said that the changes will give people “more control over housing in their cherished communities”.

He added: “We know short-term lets can be helpful for the tourist economy, but we are now giving councils the tools to bring them under control so that local people can rent those homes as well.”

Amanda Cupples, of Airbnb, said of the plans for a new national register: “Families who host on Airbnb will benefit from clear rules that support their activity, and local authorities will get access to the information they need to manage housing impacts and keep communities healthy, where necessary.”

Mr Gove first pledged the changes in December 2022 as part of a package of concessions to Conservative backbenchers who threatened to vote down his planning reforms.

The proposed changes will see a new planning use class created for shortterm lets, with existing dedicated shortterm let properties automatically reclassified and not in need of planning permission.

There has been criticism of the new policy announcements from industry figures, who say the holiday let industry is being unfairly targeted by regulation and blamed for housing shortages.

Andy Fenner, of the Short Term Accommodation Association, said: “The holiday-let industry is doomed to continue being unfairly regarded as tourism’s problem child, second-best to hotels, and unjustly taking the brunt of the blame game surrounding housing supply and affordability, despite the lack of a proper evidence base.

“The presumption is that, if you shut down all short-term rentals tomorrow, the housing crisis would be solved but that is naive in the extreme.”

Councils have faced pressure to tackle the perceived problem of there being too many properties in tourist hotspots being used as second homes.