DCMS urged to establish standards within the short-term lettings industry

Risks of unregulated growth of short-term lets

With the current undersupply of homes within the private rented sector, any shift in landlord behaviour to favour short-term lettings will further exacerbate the industry’s supply issues. 

Developing a tourist accommodation registration scheme in England

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) published a consultation in June 2022 on potential regulations for short-term and holiday lets. The goal was to understand the potential impact of the short-term letting industry, as the DCMS looked to grow the tourism industry in England as it recovers from the pandemic. 

Proposals for short-term lets

As part of our response to the consultation, we produced a survey for our members to share their thoughts on several proposals

Based on this feedback, Propertymark proposes the following:

• Ensure that local authorities have appropriate regulatory powers to balance the needs and concerns of their communities with wider economic and tourism interests. This will require well-funded localised solutions rather than a ‘one-size-fits-all' approach. 
• A licensing scheme should be introduced for short-term lets with physical checks of the premises. This will level the playing field between short and longer-term let markets and protect renters from poor-quality accommodation. 
• Ensure equal tax relief for short and longer-term lets. While those letting property frequently on a short-term basis benefit from tax-free income on their rents, private rented sector landlords have seen their tax relief decline since 2015 in multiple ways. Equalising tax relief ensures landlords are not incentivised to switch to short-term lets and reduce the supply of the private rented sector. 

Read the response...