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London council to ask Javid for Airbnb rules exemption
An east London council is to ask housing secretary Sajid Javid to exempt parts of the borough from rules enabling people to let their homes out as Airbnbs without permission.
Tower Hamlets Council said it has seen “exponential growth” in the use of holiday letting platforms such as Airbnb over the past two years, leading to a “significant loss” in housing supply and a rise in anti-social behaviour.
Some holiday lets in the borough have reportedly been used for “sex and drug-taking parties”, according to the council.
Housing associations operating in Tower Hamlets have raised concerns about the impact of the spike in holiday lettings.
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Properties in London can currently be let out as holiday homes for less than 90 nights a year without needing planning permission to change the building’s use from residential to commercial.
However, Tower Hamlets looks set to ask the government to allow it to exempt “those parts of the borough that are most severely affected by the growth of short-term letting” from this rule.
This would mean people in these areas would need to ask the council for permission before letting their properties out to holidaymakers.
“This in turn would make it possible for the council to plan and control the nature of short-term letting, preventing the loss of homes and minimising any loss of amenity,” said a report due to go before the council’s cabinet on Tuesday.
Westminster City Council is the only local authority to have applied for this exemption, but it was rejected in May 2016.
Tower Hamlets’ cabinet will vote on a range of measures aimed at easing problems associated with holiday lettings, including lobbying the government to introduce tougher legislation.
The number of London properties listed on Airbnb has nearly tripled in the past two years to more than 50,000, while at least another 40,000 homes are thought to be on other similar platforms.
Tower Hamlets has the second-highest level of holiday letting in the capital after Westminster.
