The Government has announced new rules to give communities greater control over short-term lets in their areas which it says will strengthen the tourism sector.
A consultation by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities will propose introducing a requirement for planning permission to be gained for a home to be used as a short-term let.
It says this will help support local people in areas where high numbers of holiday lets are preventing them from finding affordable housing.
It will also consider whether to give owners flexibility to let out their home for up to a specified number of nights in a calendar year without the need for planning permission.
The new proposals come as the Department for Culture Media and Sport also launches a separate consultation on a new registration scheme for short-term lets, aimed at finding out how many there are and where they are located.
Michael Gove, secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities, said: ‘Tourism brings many benefits to our economy but in too many communities we have seen local people pushed out of cherished towns, cities and villages by huge numbers of short-term lets.
‘I’m determined that we ensure that more people have access to local homes at affordable prices, and that we prioritise families desperate to rent or buy a home of their own close to where they work.’
Responding to the proposals, Dan Wilson Craw, acting director, Generation Rent, said they would 'not reverse the recent trend.'
'Under the Government's plans, existing holiday lets - including homes that tenants were evicted from to make way for tourists - would get automatic planning permission. And few landlords would apply to revert their property to residential use: because it is more lucrative to rent to tourists than to tenants, properties with planning permission for holiday lets will suddenly become more valuable than regular houses.
'The planning proposals might help ensure that future homes built in holiday hotspots are lived in by locals, but compared with the rapid loss of homes in recent years, it will take a long time to restore balance to the rental market, and people will continue to be priced out of the areas they grew up in.
He addeded: 'To avoid locking in the recent loss of homes, and push houses back into the residential market, the government should give councils powers to require holiday lets to have licences. Licences would expire after a set period, and councils with severe housing shortages could place caps on how many could be issued and renewed.'
