Westminster Conservatives are taking action to protect residents from the impact of unregulated short-term lets across the city. Council leader Paul Swaddle has called on Airbnb and similar platforms to help stop unlawful renting, including the use of council-owned homes, which is driving nuisance, squeezing housing supply and pushing up costs. Westminster has an estimated 13,000 short-term rentals, with thousands believed to exceed the 90-day legal limit. The council is urging stronger data-sharing, better enforcement and a fair registration system to protect communities, support responsible hosting and restore proper local control over homes in Westminster.
The article below was orginally published in The Standard and you can read it here.
Westminster council leader calls on Airbnb to tackle ‘out of control’ renting across London’s West End
Paul Swaddle is urging Airbnb-style booking platforms to cooperate to protect housing markets in London
The newly appointed Westminster council leader has called on Airbnb to tackle “out of control” short-term renting in London’s West End.
Paul Swaddle is calling on the American firm and other booking platforms to help to end the “unlawful” letting of properties, including council-owned homes, in a letter seen by The Times.
Mr Swaddle estimates that there are 13,000 short-term rentals in Westminster alone, including more than 10,000 whole properties.
As it stands, London homeowners are legally allowed to let their homes for up to 90 days a year, but the letter adds that 2,700 properties are expected to be unlawfully let for more than the limit.
Mr Swaddle says that “for far too long the people of Westminster have had to live with blatant disregard” for the cap and that platforms do not take responsibility for the problems caused by “dumped rubbish and noisy parties.” He urged companies to remove council-owned properties from their booking systems as they are “ineligible to be short-let as per the terms of their leases.”
Airbnb was launched in London in 2008. The site’s popularity has grown exponentially in recent years, but concerns have been raised about short-term letting driving up rental prices for Londoners.
Despite legislation introduced in 2015 limiting hosts to letting properties for 90 days and the threat of up to £20,000 in fines, research by the BBC revealed that landlords were finding ways to break rules.
This included using multiple accounts to book out properties for more than the allotted 90 days.
Now, Mr Swaddle is asking councils to track and share with local authorities the number of nights properties are let to help enforce regulations.
The issue of short-term rentals will become increasingly important as London mayor Sir Sadiq Khan announced plans to implement a tourist tax on visitors to the capital, including hotel and short-term rental guests.
In 2018, Westminster Council found that 90 per cent of 118 properties in Forset Court, a block of flats near Hyde Park, were being used as holiday rentals. At the time, reports suggested the mansion block had more tourists than the Ritz.
In Barnet, another landlord was fined £75,000 last year after it was revealed that two flats were being rented on Airbnb and Booking.com in breach of council regulations.
In a statement to the Times, Airbnb said it supported the 90-day cap and said it was engaged in “ongoing dialogue with Westminster City Council”.
It added it would: “continue to keep them updated on our support for a registration scheme in England, which will give local authorities the tools and data they need to address any issues stemming from short-term lets where they do occur.”
Booking.com said in a statement to the same publication: “Short-term rentals solve real needs in the travel industry, but those needs must be balanced with the secondary impacts on cities and communities. Any successful regulation needs to be both reasonable and proportionate, taking into account the interests of communities, homeowners, digital platforms and consumers alike. In practice, we believe this includes a registration system supported by a database accessible to platforms, so registration numbers can be displayed.”
The Tories regained control of the council from Labour last month in the London local elections.
Labour attempted a crackdown on Airbnb-style lets in February of this year, with MP Rachel Blake urging for a registration system to prevent the breach of the 90-day rule.
