Conservative led Westminster City Council is calling on the Government to introduce mandatory information sharing between councils and operators such as AirBNB, so that it can enforce the legal limit of 90 days a year for short lets. As residents know, a constant stream of short let residents who don’t respect rules on noise or putting out rubbish can blight a block, turning it into a badly managed hotel. The high rents paid by short let tourists keep out long term tenants and homeowners, undermine communities and can provide opportunities for crime and anti-social behaviour.
The council’s Taskforce is investigating over 1,400 properties, 106 of them in the Park West block. Cllr Ian Adams said that while hotels have to meet the council’s rules, there are no rules allowing WCC to detect whether the 90-day limit for short letting a flat legally has been broken: “If it poses an issue in the local area we must begin a long and complicated process just to identify it”. Residents who think a property is being short let for more than 90 days can help by notifying planning enforcement with dates and observations.
