Westminster's new Conservative council leader Paul Swaddle has written to Airbnb and Booking.com demanding immediate action on the "out of control" short-term rental market in the West End. With an estimated 2,700 properties suspected of being illegally let beyond the legal 90-day cap in,cluding council-owned homes, Swaddle is calling on the platforms to remove unlawful listings and urging the government to enforce a long-delayed registration scheme. Tackling the short-term lets crisis was a key Conservative manifesto commitment, and the new Conservative-led council is wasting no time in delivering on that promise.
The article below by Ellie McDonald was orginally published in The Times and you can read it here.
Airbnb told to crack down on 'out of control' West End rentals
Pressure is mounting in London for travel firms to take firmer action against listings believed to exceed legal letting thresholds
Airbnb and other booking platforms have been told to tackle "out of control" short-term renting across the West End of London, as thousands of properties are suspected of being unlawfully let to visitors.
Westminster's newly installed council leader, Paul Swaddle, has written to Airbnb and rival Booking.com calling for their immediate co-operation to end the "unlawful" letting of properties on their platforms — including council-owned homes.
London homeowners are permitted to let their homes for up to 90 days a year. Swaddle's letter states there are an estimated 13,000 short-term rentals in Westminster, including over 10,000 whole properties. Of these, more than 2,700 are suspected of being unlawfully let beyond the 90-day cap.
In the letter, Swaddle writes that "for far too long the people of Westminster have had to live with blatant disregard" for the cap, and with "the problems caused by dumped rubbish and noisy parties for which occupiers, owners and the platforms take no accountability". He has called on the companies to remove council properties from their systems, as they are "ineligible to be short-let as per the terms of their leases".
The Conservative Party regained Westminster from Labour in last month's local elections, with a crackdown on short-term lets forming a central part of their manifesto.
Legislation enacted in 2015 restricted hosts in Greater London from letting their entire property on a short-term basis for more than 90 days in a calendar year. Hosts who exceed this cap can face enforcement action and fines of up to £20,000. Research by the BBC last year suggested that some landlords were finding ways to sidestep the counter, often by using multiple accounts.
In 2023, Westminster council investigators found that 90 per cent of 118 properties in Forset Court, a block of flats near Hyde Park, were being used for holiday stays — accommodating as many tourists as the Ritz hotel.
Swaddle has urged the government to require booking platforms to track and share with local authorities the number of nights properties are let, to help manage and enforce the regulations. He noted that legislation allowing for a registration scheme for short-term lets had been passed but had yet to be implemented.
The issue is growing in urgency following the London Mayor being granted the power to introduce an overnight levy on tourists and visitors, which will apply to hotel guests and those using short-term rentals.
Airbnb said it "fully supports" the 90-day cap and is engaged in "ongoing dialogue with Westminster city council", adding that it supports a registration scheme in England that would give local authorities the data they need to address issues stemming from short-term lets. The firm also offers councils a notice-and-take-down process to flag suspected illegal listings.
Booking.com said any successful regulation "needs to be both reasonable and proportionate, taking into account the interests of communities, homeowners, digital platforms and consumers alike", and called for a registration system supported by a database accessible to platforms.
