Council Leader Paul Swaddle has welcomed Westminster’s new data-sharing partnership with Airbnb, giving the Council powerful new tools to identify and tackle illegal short-term lets. Westminster Conservatives are using the agreement to crack down on social housing fraud, return homes to families in genuine need and hold offenders accountable. Paul Swaddle is also calling on every other short-term rental platform to follow Airbnb’s lead and help protect Westminster’s housing stock.
Another enforcement win: Westminster Conservatives take action on illegal short-term lets
Westminster has some of the highest levels of short-term lets misuse in the country. For years, a minority of operators have broken the rules, listing social housing on platforms like Airbnb while profiting from publicly funded properties that should be homes for families in genuine need. Westminster Conservatives promised to act on this. Here is what Conservative delivery looks like.
Westminster Conservatives welcome an industry-first data sharing agreement between the Cabinet Office and Airbnb, and are participating to crack down on illegal short-term lets. Here is what that means in practice:
- For the first time, the council can check social housing records directly against Airbnb listings, identifying properties being exploited by fraudsters
- Westminster has identified just under 2,000 potential cases of social housing fraud locally
- Confirmed fraudulent listings will be removed from Airbnb
- Fraudsters face eviction, fines and up to two years in prison
- I have written directly to all suspected illegal short-term let operators in Westminster.
The message is clear: there is no hiding place.
This is an important Conservative-led first step. I have met personally with senior executives from Airbnb who recognise the seriousness of the issue and have pledged to address our concerns. But Airbnb cannot be the only platform acting. Westminster Conservatives are calling on every other short-term rental platform to step up and follow suit.
A City That Works for All means homes going to the families and residents who need them most, not to fraudsters treating publicly funded properties as private cash machines. Westminster Conservatives will keep pushing until every illegal operator is rooted out and every home is returned to someone who genuinely needs it.
Under Labour, illegal short-term lets proliferated across Westminster with no meaningful action to stop them. That is over.
