Developing a tourist accommodation registration scheme in England: call for evidence

Question 1

Ministerial foreword

Accepted Answer

Last year’s Tourism Recovery Plan sets out how the UK government will support a swift recovery from the pandemic and help the tourism industry move toward a more accessible, innovative, resilient and sustainable model. We are determined that tourism — vital for driving growth, creating jobs and enriching lives — can reach its full potential in every region.

We want to ensure England continues to provide a safe and competitive guest accommodation offer. We have long been able to boast about the quality and range of England’s guest accommodation, from world-class offerings like the Ritz through to the quintessential English bed and breakfast and country cottage. Yet the shape of England’s guest accommodation landscape has changed over the last fifteen years.

Most notably, the rise of digital platforms such as Airbnb and Booking.com have led to significant growth in the range and volume of guest accommodation on the market, particularly short-term and holiday lets. These platforms have brought many benefits, including new routes to market for many forms of accommodation business, expanded consumer choice and access to new income streams for homeowners. We recognise however that some have raised concerns about compliance with existing regulations and the impact on local communities.

In the Tourism Recovery Plan, we set out our intention to consider a Tourist Accommodation Registration Scheme in England. The purpose of this call for evidence is therefore twofold. First, we want to get a better understanding of the benefits and challenges of the increase in short-term and holiday letting we have seen in England in recent years. In particular, we want to focus on the size and shape of the market; the application, awareness and enforcement of regulations regarding the health and safety of customers; and on the impact on the housing market and local communities. Second, we want to gather initial evidence on the potential impact of a range of possible policy responses in this space. Both will help us to consider whether there are options we should pursue further through consultation.

Some countries and cities — including Scotland and Northern Ireland — have introduced measures in recent years to respond to concerns about short-term lettings, such as registration and licensing schemes. The government would like to better understand the impact of such schemes before deciding whether further regulation is necessary in England.

We go into this call for evidence with an open mind. Your views will ensure we develop proportionate proposals, addressing the challenges whilst preserving the benefits. We intend to consult on specific options later in 2022, and we are keen to get the views of all parties and work collaboratively across the industry to find the right solution.

Nigel Huddleston MP
Minister for Sport, Tourism, Heritage and Civil Society

Question 2

Background

Accepted Answer

What are short term and holiday lettings

The guest accommodation sector has changed significantly over the last fifteen years, both within England and across the world. In particular, there has been a major expansion in the number and range of accommodation suppliers operating in the market, driven by the growth of online platforms. These innovative platforms provide a new route to market for many forms of guest accommodation and more choice for consumers. In particular, we have witnessed a significant increase in short-term letting of residential premises.

The term ‘short-term letting’ is most commonly used to refer to the offering of residential accommodation to one or more paying guests. It can include single rooms within a shared premises or the letting of an entire premises. The premises could be anything from a house or flat to a caravan or houseboat. Guests could travel with tourism in mind (“holiday or vacation letting”), or for other purposes such as work or to stay somewhere whilst their house is being refurbished. Short-term lets are distinct from private residential tenancies and lodging arrangements because they do not require the occupier to treat the property, or part of it, as their principal home. They are also distinct from other forms of guest accommodation such as hotels or hostels, as they take place in premises that could or would otherwise be used as a residence.

Short-term and holiday letting to paying guests is not new. Home stays, home swaps and private holiday rentals in cottages, caravans and self-catering apartments have long been an important feature of England’s guest accommodation landscape. What is relatively new is the emergence of online booking platforms and travel agents such as Airbnb, Expedia, Booking.com and TripAdvisor. For example, Airbnb launched in the late 2000s, opened its office in London only as recently as 2011 and in late 2021 reached 1 billion guests worldwide using its platform. Although these platforms are used by businesses across the sector, including hotels, bed and breakfasts and self-catering apartment providers, they have also facilitated many new market entrants in the form of homeowners (or ‘hosts’) seeking to generate additional income by advertising the possibility of a short-term stay in their own home to paying guests.

The expansion of the short-term and holiday letting market has also prompted other innovations. For example, there are now a multitude of companies offering home management services to hosts (e.g. cleaning services between lets), other hosting services (e.g. vetting guests and developing letting adverts), support services (e.g insurance), tech-based solutions (e.g. to determine optimal pricing) and a wider range of quality assessments.

In England the sector is currently unregulated, except in London where there is a cap of 90 days per annum for letting out a property on a short-term basis, introduced via an amendment to the Greater London Council (General Powers) Act 1973 under the Deregulation Act 2015. Details of the relevant provisions of this Act are outlined further in other considerations and in Annex A.

Market data

Many, including this recent House of Commons briefing paper, have concluded that there is no single, definitive source of data on short-term and holiday letting activity in England. This is driven in part by definitional difficulties (e.g. when does a let cease to be short term?) but also because, unlike in some other countries, there are no obligations on operators in England to report information on staying guests to local or national authorities. In England we tend to rely on either surveys, data published by private companies or data collated by third party providers such as AirDNA.

By any measure, however, it can be established that short-term and holiday letting has been a rapidly expanding segment of the guest accommodation market in recent years. For example, the All Party Parliamentary Group for Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality published a report into the sharing economy in July 2018 citing figures that ‘sharing economy businesses in the accommodation sector generated £3bn in sales during 2015 and that this level of revenue could rise to nearly £30bn by 2025”. As another example, Airbnb listing data showed a 33% increase in UK listings between 2017 and 2018, from 168,000 in 2017 to 223,000 in 2018. The government has also been presented with evidence from many local authorities and destination management organisations of significant growth in available lets in their areas over recent years.

Most publicly available data is pre-COVID. Whilst the impact of COVID-19 on the travel and tourism sector has been significant (for example the Office for National Statistics estimates an 80% drop between 2019 and 2020 in the economic output of the accommodation sector), most independent forecasts predict that the sector will recover to pre-pandemic levels by 2025. The short-term letting market is expected to continue growing as tourism as a whole recovers. Anecdotal evidence suggests short-term lets fared ‘better’ in relative terms during 2020 and 2021 than other forms of guest accommodation, driven in part by perceptions that they offered a ‘safer’ alternative than forms of guest accommodation such as hotels and hostels where there is a higher chance of interaction with others.

Impact of short term and holiday lets

The government recognises that short-term and holiday letting presents significant opportunities both for the wider economy & tourism sector, consumers and for homeowners:

Airbnb’s 2018 UK Insights Report shows that between July 2017 and July 2018, hosts and guests using Airbnb contributed £3.5bn to the UK economy, catering for 8.4m inbound guests and earning hosts £854m.
The growth in the market has provided consumers with greater choice and type of accommodation, often in areas not served by hotels, providing a different experience to more traditional forms of holiday accommodation and the opportunity to ‘live like a local’.
For homeowners, there is the opportunity to make money from their house, flat/apartment or spare room(s) when they are not using them, with the ‘typical’ airbnb host in the UK earning £3,100 a year from hosting.^{[footnote 1]}

The government is keen to understand more about the benefits of short-term letting as part of this call for evidence and there are specific questions relating to it.

There are, however, challenges that have come with the expansion of short-term and holiday letting. These include:

The rapid expansion in the market has weakened our data on the size and nature of the guest accommodation sector, particularly at a sub-national level. Enforcement agencies, for example, have argued that they do not know how many lets are offered in their area, making it difficult to enforce regulations in areas such as fire safety.
An ‘unlevel playing field’ in the application, awareness and enforcement of regulations that apply to operators of paid for guest accommodation. For example, it is argued that some new entrants in the market are not abiding by existing key health and safety legislation designed to keep consumers safe. There are also concerns with potential breaches by hosts of mortgage and tenancy agreements.
Negative housing and community impacts, such as the impact on housing supply and reports of anti-social behaviour from guests.

The government also recognises that there could be differences in how these challenges manifest in different regions of the country, since short-term lettings are likely to have grown at different rates across different areas. It is possible that anti-social behaviour is greater in urban areas, or that housing supply is more adversely affected in tourist ‘honeypots’ in rural or coastal areas. The government would therefore welcome greater insight and evidence into how the challenges present in different geographic areas of England.

The government also recognises that these issues are not unique to England, and they are why some local and national governments around the world have intervened in the market in recent years. Annex A contains a summary of some of the different approaches taken internationally. The government would welcome any insight and evidence on the impact these schemes have had in the regions to which they pertain.

Question 3

About this call for evidence

Accepted Answer

Why is the government conducting a call for evidence?

The UK government’s Tourism Recovery Plan, published in June 2021, included a commitment to consider a possible Tourist Accommodation Registration Scheme in England. The purpose of this call for evidence is to gather information that will improve the government’s understanding of the benefits and challenges of short term lets across England as a whole and how they vary across the country. This evidence will help us determine whether there are options the UK government should pursue through a consultation. We are also keen to consider alternatives to registration and licensing schemes including non-regulatory alternatives.

Scope

This call for evidence seeks insight and information in the following areas:

changes and growth in the short-term letting market
benefits of short term lets
challenges, including compliance with the existing regulatory framework and housing and community impacts
the impact of potential policy responses

Together, questions in each of these areas are designed to ensure firstly that the government develops a fuller understanding of the current market, and secondly that future policy responses are proportionate and evidence-based.

The scope of this call for evidence does not extend to cover every potential issue related to short-term and holiday letting. For example, the document does not include questions on the criteria governing when holiday lets become eligible for business rates rather than council tax, as the government recently published a consultation response on this matter. Nor does it cover related policy areas such as second home ownership. However, if respondents feel that an important issue relating to the matters raised in this call for evidence has not been covered, a ‘catch-all’ question is included at the end for this purpose.

Whilst the visitor economy is an important economic sector across the UK, responsibility for tourism policy in the UK is devolved to the Scottish and Welsh Governments and to the Northern Ireland Executive. This call for evidence is therefore focused on the situation in England. However, we would welcome reflections on the licensing order legislation recently approved by the Scottish Parliament, as well as the certification scheme that has been running in Northern Ireland since 1992. Further information on the approaches taken by the devolved administrations is in Annex A.

Audience

Although this call for evidence is open to everyone, the government is particularly interested in hearing from

hosts operating in the short-term and holiday letting market
guest accommodation businesses, including digital peer-to-peer platforms that market letting opportunities, short-term and holiday let service companies and those operating other guest accommodation business models
enforcement agencies, including the Fire and Rescue Service, the police and local authorities
representative bodies, organisations and groups, including destination management organisations

Question 4

How to respond

Accepted Answer

The best way to respond to this call for evidence is by completing the online response form:

Start online response form

A full list of questions is at Annex B.

Alternatively you can email answers to the call for evidence questions to tourism-accommodation-registration-scheme@dcms.gov.uk.

If you use the mailbox, please seek to limit your response to no more than 6 pages. If you do go beyond 6 pages please provide an executive summary. Within your response please make clear where any data you are providing is market sensitive.

This call for evidence is intended to be an entirely written exercise. Please contact enquiries@dcms.gov.uk if you require any other format (e.g. braille or large font).

This call for evidence will run for 12 weeks, closing on 21 September 2022. The government intends to publish a summary of responses later in 2022.

As a general point of principle when responding to this call for evidence, the more detailed, quantitative evidence you are able to provide the better. Quantitative data will assist with producing robust estimates of the costs and benefits of any policy responses.

A Data Protection Privacy Notice can be found at Annex C.

Question 5

Changes and growth in the short term and holiday lets market

Accepted Answer

Building the evidence base

Currently the government considers the evidence base on short-term and holiday letting market to be inadequate, and this is especially the case at a sub-national level where tourism data is often unrepresentative and not sufficiently robust to present a clear picture. Stronger evidence on the size and nature of the current state of the guest accommodation market, as well as changes in recent years, is needed - firstly so the government has an up-to-date and accurate understanding of the current landscape, and secondly to ensure the development of proportionate policy options is informed by a robust evidence base. This will also be important to ensuring the government meets its obligations under the Public Sector Equality Duty.

Question 1: Are you able to provide us with evidence illustrating the size and nature of the short-term and holiday letting market in England and/or its regions, and how that has changed over time?

This question is concerned with painting a picture of the market in England, in both revenue and people terms. Your answer should therefore focus on providing objective evidence, and not on providing an assessment of its consequences (e.g. on the housing market, which is covered in later questions).

For this question, the government is particularly interested in the following:

For any data provided, it would be helpful to have:

data illustrating the picture at a national level
data illustrating the picture in different regions of England
data that might help with equalities analysis (sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation and other protected characteristics listed in the Equality Act 2010), e.g. proportion of hosts on a platform that are male/female
data illustrating changes since 2010, including during the pandemic

If you are an online platform it would be helpful to have:

data on the number of active listings on your platform, and how that has changed over time
a breakdown of the types of listing on your platform (e.g. the number of listings run by property management companies versus individuals, the number of entire premises offered versus single rooms and the number where the listing is based on exclusive customer use as opposed to co-living with the host)
data illustrating a typical host or listing (e.g. average earnings per host/listing, average number of nights hosted per year)
data on occupancy rates (i.e. how often listed properties are made available per year, how this varies over the course of the year and how often they are used)
data on where listings are geographically/regionally located
data on the economic impact of short-term and holiday letting activity, including key source markets

If you are a local authority / destination management organisation / enforcement agency it would be helpful to have data illustrating short-term letting activity in your area, how that has changed over time and data on the effectiveness of enforcement.

Question 6

Benefits of short term and holiday lets

Accepted Answer

This section seeks evidence on the benefits arising from the increase in short-term and holiday letting in England. The government is keen to understand more about the benefits of short-term and holiday letting and the increasing prevalence of such activity driven by the emergence of online platforms. By deepening our understanding of the scale and nature of these benefits, the government will be in a better position to judge what may be a proportionate policy response.

Benefits to homeowners

There are a number of benefits to hosts / property owners of short-term lettings. Perhaps foremost, property owners are able to take the opportunity to utilise an otherwise dormant or underused asset (either a room or an entire property) to earn additional income: indeed Airbnb’s 2018 UK Insights report suggests that a typical UK host on their platform earns an average of £3,100 a year. Airbnb research also suggests that earnings from Airbnb represent an average of 20% of total income for UK hosts.^{[footnote 2]}

Other benefits include the opportunity to connect with visitors from around the world and in some cases help combat loneliness. The government is interested in learning more about all these benefits, and other benefits where evidence may be available.

Benefits to consumers

The greater availability of short-term lettings arguably provides the consumer with broader choice on a variety of accommodation factors including price, location, convenience, type and range of experience. Further, there is evidence that some consumers view short-term holiday lets as a more sustainable and environmentally friendly form of guest accommodation with 72% of Airbnb guests in Airbnb: Helping travel grow greener citing the environmental benefits of home sharing as playing a role in their choice to travel using that platform.

Some have also argued that there has been a perception since COVID that short-term lets offer a ‘safer’ form of accommodation than options such as hotels and hostels, due to fewer opportunities for interaction with others. Greater availability of a range of accommodation, including short term lets, could also help to meet consumer demand at times of high pressure on capacity, for example when a major sporting or cultural event is taking place.

Question 7

Wider economic benefits

Accepted Answer

Aside from the benefits to hosts, homeowners and consumers, there are also benefits to businesses, be they platforms acting as a marketplace for short-term letting, ‘traditional’ accommodation providers using the platforms as an alternative route to market, or ‘supply’ businesses set up to support the operation of the short-term letting market — such as those offering bespoke insurance solutions, or cleaning services.

There is also the benefit to the tourism industry, primarily in the form of expanded supply and market growth. However, there are also benefits stemming from the visitor dispersal enabled by the offer of accommodation outside of traditional tourist areas: such areas may benefit from additional tourist spend as a result. Greater tourist spend is also arguably enabled by providing areas with ‘surge capacity’ when they are hosting a major event, demand for which may otherwise be unmet.

Question 2: What do you consider to be the main benefits of short-term and holiday letting for:

a) Homeowners b) Consumers c) Businesses and the wider economy

Where possible, please provide detailed quantitative evidence. Quantitative data will assist with producing robust estimates of the costs and benefits of any policy responses.

For example, when answering this question, if you are a host offering short-term letting services it would be useful to provide data such as how much you earn in an average year from short-term and holiday letting activity. Likewise, if you are an online platform it would be useful to estimate the wider economic impact on the local communities and to see data showing the various types of accommodation business that use your platform.

Question 8

Short term and holiday lets: challenges

Accepted Answer

Compliance with existing regulatory framework

A commonly cited concern associated with the increase in short-term and holiday letting is that many new entrants in the market are either not aware of and/or not complying with their legal obligations towards paying guests under various pieces of health and safety legislation. This issue is primarily focused on homeowners advertising their own properties on digital platforms. There are related concerns around how compliance with legislation is enforced, and the government has heard from enforcement agencies who feel they are unable to act effectively because they do not know how much short-term letting activity is taking place in their area or where it is located. Some have argued that there is an ‘unlevel playing field’ across different business models in the guest accommodation market, with ‘traditional’ operators like hotels and bed and breakfasts facing stricter regulations and greater levels of enforcement than their short-term and holiday let competitors.

The government is keen to collect evidence on the awareness and enforcement of, and compliance with, key regulations in the short-term and holiday letting market. The following question does not cover every regulation relevant to providing guest accommodation. Instead it focuses on regulations that the government considers to be most relevant to the development of possible policy responses.

Health and safety

Fire Safety. The government’s position is that fire safety law applies to any host or property owner if someone pays to stay in the property as a visitor, but not to live there as a permanent home. This is set out in published guidance. Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, accommodation providers must take proportionate steps to protect people using the premises from the risk of fire. They must undertake and review regularly a fire risk assessment and put in place and maintain appropriate fire safety measures to ensure an adequate level of fire safety. For example, guests should be informed of what to do if there is a fire and properties should have suitable fire detection systems installed. It is good practice to keep a written record of a fire risk assessment, and although this does not become a legal requirement unless you have five or more employees, legislation is currently going through Parliament that will require all fire risk assessments to be recorded regardless of the number of employees. Fire and rescue services are responsible for enforcing this law, can inspect properties to ensure compliance and ultimately have powers to prohibit use of the premises if you do not take necessary steps to ensure fire safety.

Gas Safety. Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 cover the installation, maintenance and use of gas appliances in all premises including commercial self-catering, hotels and caravans and homes hired out in the course of business. Businesses operators and employers, including landlords, are required to ensure that gas appliances have an annual safety check by a registered engineer along with a written record of inspection (a gas safety certificate).

Health and Safety Regulations. The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 set out how employers and relevant self-employed people must undertake a “suitable and sufficient” assessment of the health and safety risks that they, their employees or their customers might be exposed to as a result of the business. Further guidance is available on the Health and Safety Executive website on who is and is not covered by the definition of self-employed in this context. Those in scope must then take reasonably practicable steps to address risks identified. If the business has five or more employees (e.g. a cleaning business providing cleaners to multiple short-term lets) then they must keep a written record but those with fewer than five still need to do a risk assessment. The Health and Safety Executive is responsible for enforcing compliance for the majority of short-term holiday lets but there are situations in which the relevant local authority is responsible, see this guidance for further information.

It has been argued that some short-term and holiday let operators are not aware of and/or not abiding by these regulations, potentially resulting in the provision of unsafe guest accommodation. On health & safety regulations, it has been argued that some hosts and providers are not undertaking “suitable and sufficient”, or indeed any risk assessments, of their premises before offering them to paying guests — for example, a homeowner advertising their property as a holiday let for two weeks a year may not bother to undertake a risk assessment. If this is the case, then it could lead to increased health and safety risks for the consumer. These could vary from property to property but could include, for example, no provision of basic first aid equipment, unsafe electrical systems or the provision of deficient products to guests such as a faulty kettle, hairdryer or gym equipment. It has also been argued that enforcement agencies lack both the data and the resources to enforce the Fire Safety Order effectively (the London Fire Brigade submitted evidence along these lines to the 2018 report into the sharing economy undertaken by the All Party Parliamentary Group for Tourism, Leisure and the Hospitality Industry). On gas safety, homeowners offering short-term lets may not consider themselves subject to annual safety inspections because they do not consider themselves ‘landlords’. However, guidance from the Health and Safety Executive, responsible for enforcing compliance, is clear that landlord duties apply to a wide range of accommodation, including rented holiday accommodation. Non-compliance could put paying guests at risk.

Finally, there are a range of regulations concerning the provision of food and drink by operators of guest accommodation. There are many ways that a short-term letting operator might provide food or drink as these can be an important part of the hospitality offer (e.g. the provision of a welcome hamper or living in the property whilst guests are there and preparing meals for them). Although it will likely vary by circumstance, potentially relevant regulations could include the Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013 where it is required to ensure the safety of any food you provide, e.g. by having clean food preparation areas and access to handwashing, or the Food Safety Act 1990 which requires that you cannot ‘render food injurious to health’ (e.g. add something to it which might make it harmful). Although awareness of and compliance with food and drink regulations such as these is not a commonly raised issue with respect to short-term letting, it is conceivable that there could be issues with low awareness and non-compliance which could result in serious consequences for paying guests. The government therefore welcomes any evidence that may be available on this matter.

Question 3: How do you assess levels of compliance with regulations on:

a) Fire safety b) Gas safety c) Health and safety d) Food and drink

within the short-term and holiday letting market in England?

Option 1 - Compliance is very good
Option 2 - Compliance is good
Option 3 - Compliance is fair
Option 4 - Compliance is poor
Option 5 - Compliance is very poor

For each of these, please give reasons for your answer. If you believe there is significant non-compliance, please provide specific examples/evidence. Alternatively, if you believe compliance is generally strong, please also provide evidence.

If you are a platform, how do you inform hosts about their legal requirements?

If you are a host, are you aware of your legal requirements? How have you been informed of these requirements?

What assessment do you make of how effectively the regulation is enforced?

Compliance with contractual agreements

It has been argued that some hosts advertising short-term lets in their properties are doing so in breach of contractual agreements. Leases, mortgage, tenancy agreements, Commonhold Community Statements and building regulations can all place restrictions on subletting and hosting type behaviours. For example, a host may be in breach of a mortgage agreement by letting out the property on a short-term let basis without the consent of the mortgage provider. They may also be violating the insurance required as part of the mortgage agreement. Many tenancy agreements include clauses preventing subletting and under the Prevention of Social Housing Fraud Act 2013 it is illegal for social housing tenants to sublet their premises.

The government is keen to gather evidence on the scale and nature of this problem. It is an area that could result in financial repercussions for the host or property owner if they are found to be in breach, and it could also invalidate insurance if an incident occurs whilst guests are staying.

Question 4: Do you consider there to be a problem with breach of contractual agreements in the short-term and holiday letting market in England? If so, why?

Option 1 - Yes, this is a major problem
Option 2 - Yes, but this is only a minor problem
Option 3 - No, there is no problem

Please give reasons for your answer, as well as specific examples/evidence. The government is particularly interested in breaches of mortgage, tenancy and social housing agreements.

Other legal provisions

There are many other legal provisions which apply to the operation of guest accommodation not covered above. Examples include, but are not limited to:

the Equality Act 2010, which addresses unlawful discrimination against customers
rules around marketing, promotion and buying and selling, including unfair trading practices and what can/cannot be retained from a deposit
various licences that might be relevant (e.g. TV Licences, licences for showing films, Passenger Service Vehicle Licences if transporting guests)
specific health and safety legislation not covered above, e.g. around safety glass or asbestos
regulations governing employees (e.g. minimum wage and parental leave)

The government recognises that some may believe these other legal provisions to be important considerations when determining the right policy response to the growth in short term and holiday lettings. If you believe there is something important the government should be considering as part of this work, please use question number 5.

Question 5: Do you consider there to be other legal provisions concerning the supply of short-term and holiday letting to paying guests which are not covered elsewhere in this call for evidence but where there are issues with awareness, compliance and/or enforcement?

Option 1 - Yes
Option 2 - No

If yes, please be specific about the legal provisions concerned and provide supporting evidence.

Please ensure your answer is relevant to the case for or against the introduction of a Tourist Accommodation Registration Scheme and/or how such a scheme could be designed. This call for evidence is not concerned with views about specific legal provisions if they are not relevant to these central questions.

Housing and communities impact

Whilst any Tourist Accommodation Registration Scheme in and of itself would not address these issues directly, bringing to light the scale of housing and community issues and understanding the extent of their impact will inform the development of proportionate policy options. The government is therefore keen to gather evidence on the following topics, which are all common themes globally:

the impact of the increase in short-term and holiday letting on the housing market — including on supply and prices
anti-social behaviour or other nuisance behaviour by transient guests
the impact on the fabric of local communities

Impact on the housing market

There are a range of alleged consequences of the rise in short-term and holiday letting on the housing market. The government understands the following to be the main areas of concern:

Effect on housing supply: Landlords are argued to be prioritising short-term letting activity instead of long-term tenancy agreements, thereby reducing the supply of rental accommodation in a given location. There are also related concerns about numbers of second-homes, ownership of which could be incentivised by utilising them for short-term letting. The government understands this to be a more acute issue in some parts of the country, with commonly cited locations including, but not limited to: London, Bath, Brighton, Cambridge, Cornwall, Devon, York and Cumbria. For example, the government has heard that in Bath, York and Cambridge there are pressures on student accommodation.
Effect on price: This follows from the impact on housing supply. If housing supply in the private rental sector is constrained, then this is likely to result in increased prices for renters. We have also heard anecdotal evidence of the impact on house prices as a result of being located next to a property frequently used for short-term letting by disruptive guests.
Effect on labour supply: This relates to the above two points. The government has heard from destination management organisations, businesses, MPs and others that supply and price effects have created labour challenges in some parts of the country. Some have argued that this is ultimately undermining the sustainability of the visitor economies in these areas, as they cannot find sufficient staff to serve those in short-term and holiday lets seeking to use hospitality and other venues.

Question 6: Do you consider the increase in short-term and holiday letting in England to have had adverse consequences on the housing market?

Option 1 - Yes, this is a major problem
Option 2 - Yes, but this is only a minor problem
Option 3 - No, there is no problem

Please give reasons for your answer, including specific examples/evidence of any adverse effects, particularly at a local level.

It would also be useful to get views on whether you think the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated or altered some of these adverse consequences. For example, could there be an impact as a result of changes in the way people choose to work?

The government is aware of incidents of noisy, anti-social or other nuisance behaviour during stays in short-term and holiday lets, some of which have resulted in court proceedings. The Greater London Authority, for example, reports that in the five London boroughs with the most Airbnb listings (Camden, Kensington and Chelsea, Southwark, Tower Hamlets and Westminster) there have been numerous complaints related to short-term letting activity, with Westminster reporting 194 complaints regarding noise, waste and anti-social behaviour over the course of a year. Some online platforms have sought to take targeted action to address concerns, such as offering hosts discounts on noise detection devices. Although the government recognises that the vast majority of guests are likely to be incident free and respectful, we want to understand more about anti-social or nuisance behaviour in short-term and holiday lets. Typical complaints have included:

Noise - including regular partying, unlicensed music events, loud pets, arrival and departure at unsociable hours
Waste - e.g. not disposing of rubbish within the holiday let or not doing so appropriately in communal waste disposal areas
Anti-social use of vehicles - e.g. illegal or inconvenient parking and taking resident spaces
Drunken behaviour - including fighting and shouting
Drug taking - e.g. odour from cannabis use

Question 7: Do you consider noise, anti-social or other nuisance behaviour in short-term and holiday lets in England to be a problem? If so, why?

Option 1 - Yes, this is a major problem
Option 2 - Yes, but this is only a minor problem
Option 3 - No, there is no problem

Please give reasons for your answer, including specific examples/evidence and detail on the type of noise, anti-social or nuisance behaviours you think are the problem, including data at a local level where possible.

Where you are aware of/or have experienced issues and you complained, what assessment do you make of how the incident was dealt with? How could this complaints procedure be improved?

Whether further regulation is necessary and proportionate or whether existing powers and authorities are able to adequately deal with these issues where they arise?

If you are an online platform or a host, what steps do you take to minimise the likelihood of anti-social or nuisance behaviour occurring?

Impact on local communities and residents

Both the impact on housing supply and incidents of anti-social behaviour are examples of potential negative impacts of short-term letting on local communities and residents. However, the government recognises that they may not be the only area of concern. For example, we have heard anecdotal examples of tower blocks, streets and sections of a town that are now predominantly used for short-term letting activities, with consequences for remaining residents who no longer have permanent neighbours that they know and schools struggling to stay open due to insufficient numbers of children in the area. There are also frequently cited concerns of local communities losing their character and distinctiveness as a result of short-term letting becoming the predominant form of accommodation in the location.

Question 8: Aside from the impacts on housing and incidents of anti-social/nuisance behaviour, do you consider the increase in short-term and holiday letting in England to have had other adverse impacts on local communities and residents?

Option 1 - Yes
Option 2 - No

Please give reasons for your answer and provide specific examples/evidence.

Option 1 - Yes
Option 2 - No

Please give reasons for your answer and provide specific examples/evidence.

Question 9

Impact of potential policy responses

Accepted Answer

Summary of high-level policy responses

There are, in broad terms, six potential responses the government could consider after taking into account the evidence gathered by this call for evidence. These are described in the table below.

Table 1: High-level policy responses

Possible response	Description
1 - Do nothing	No government intervention and retention of the status quo. This could be considered a viable option if the call for evidence does not yield much evidence of any relevant issues in England.
2 - Provide more information to the sector	This could take many forms, for example the development by the government of a booklet setting out all the legal requirements that short-term letting providers need to abide by, or greater amplification of the existing ‘Pink Book’ produced by VisitEngland. It could also include requirements on platforms to ensure users confirm their awareness and understanding of the relevant regulations (including any liabilities). This could be a viable option if the call for evidence suggests the main issue is around awareness of legal responsibilities (e.g. fire and gas safety).
3 - Develop a self-certification registration scheme	Under this model, the government would require in-scope hosts/providers to register before they can operate. The registration process would be entirely self-certified with no in-built third-party checks. Information on all health and safety requirements and other relevant regulations applying to the operation of guest accommodation could be provided to those registering and as part of the registration process.
4 - Develop a registration scheme with light-touch checks	Similar to 3 but with some ‘light-touch’ checks incorporated into the process. Examples might include a small percentage of premises being randomly spot checked or a requirement to upload electronic documents proving legislation compliance, such as a gas safety certificate. This is a similar model to the ‘We’re Good to Go’ COVID-19 industry standard consumer mark developed by the four national tourist boards of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland at the start of the pandemic.
5 - Develop a licencing scheme with physical checks of the premises	Under such a model, short-term lets would only be able to operate if they were licenced, which would involve physical checks of the premises to ensure all regulations are being adhered to.
6 - Address any issues through a regulatory alternative to a registration system	For example, by creating a similar framework to that established by s.44 of the Deregulation Act 2015, and applying to all local authorities in England. Currently, this framework only applies to Greater London (see other considerations and Annex A for further background).

Potential impacts

Pending a more robust evidence base gathered as a result of this call for evidence, the government remains open minded about the most appropriate response. However, the government is interested in your high-level, initial views of what would and would not constitute a proportionate policy response in an English context — although we recognise that a complete assessment may not be possible at this stage given the evidence base.

Question 9: Which of the following do you consider to be the most appropriate form of response in the short-term letting market?

1 - Do nothing
2 - Provide more information to the sector
3 - Develop a self-certification registration scheme
4 - Develop a registration scheme with light-touch checks
5 - Develop a licencing scheme with physical checks of the premises
6 - Regulatory alternative to a registration system, such as extension of the Deregulation Act 2015

Please give reasons for your answer, including why you consider other options to be inappropriate.

Are there other options that should be considered?

The government is aware of a range of different views about these models, with some warning of significant unintended consequences if a more interventionist approach is taken, such as hosts withdrawing from the marketplace. The government is also mindful of commitments in the Levelling Up white paper to explore proposals for introducing a National Landlord Register in England and is conscious of identifying the right solutions for both the Private Rented and Tourism sectors, whilst avoiding duplication and unnecessary regulatory burdens. With that in mind, we are also interested in further evidence or views on the potential costs and possible burdens (or indeed the benefits) of each of the options presented in table 1.

Question 10: What do you consider to be the costs and associated burdens of these options, who would bear the costs and how might they be mitigated?

Please consider in particular (3) develop a self-certification registration scheme, (4) develop a registration scheme with light-touch checks, and (5) develop a licensing scheme with physical checks of the premises.

Please also consider what the benefits are of the market operating as it currently does, as well as what might be the benefits of each of all of the above options, either to businesses, property owners, or to the consumer.

The government is also interested in any insight and/or data on the impact of the schemes running or approaches taken in other countries or cities around the world. Annex A contains a summary of the approaches taken globally.

Question 11: Do you have any insight or evidence on the impact of schemes that are already running, or approaches taken elsewhere in the world?

The government would also be keen to learn about any other approaches that have been taken that are not included in the annex below.

Other considerations

The government would also be interested in views and information relating to the impact of the Deregulation Act 2015, specifically section 44 which amended the Greater London Council (General Powers) Act 1973, and which stipulates that use of any residential premises in Greater London as temporary sleeping accommodation is considered a ‘material change of use’ for the purposes of planning permission, if used in this way for more than 90 nights per calendar year. This only applies to premises where the person providing the accommodation is liable to pay council tax. This section also provides for local authorities to request that the Secretary of State agrees to targeted localised exemptions from these stipulations, where it may be necessary to ‘protect the amenity of the locality’.

Question 12: What has been the impact of the Deregulation Act 2015, specifically changes made by section 44 to the Greater London Council (General Powers) Act 1973?

Please consider the extent to which these provisions have allowed local authorities to respond to challenges posed by short term lettings.

Please also consider the potential use and impact such stipulations may have in other areas of the country.

Finally if there are any further points you wish to raise related to short term lettings and the issues raised in this document that have not been mentioned, please do so using the following final catch-all question 13.

Question 13: Is there any other information related to short term lettings and/or the issues already raised in this call for evidence that you wish to draw to the government’s attention?

Please also consider any issues you think the government should be considering in relation to developing appropriate policy responses.

Question 10

Annex A: Summary of approach taken in other cities and countries globally

Accepted Answer

Many other countries, as well as state and local governments within those countries, have implemented regulatory measures in response to increases in short-term and holiday letting, driven by the emergence of online platforms and booking agents. This Annex summarises the approaches taken in a range of different countries.

Within the UK

Northern Ireland

Under the Tourism (Northern Ireland) Order 1992, tourist accommodation cannot be provided without a valid certificate issued by the national tourist board, Tourism Northern Ireland. It is an offence to offer tourist accommodation without a certificate, with fines of up to £2,500 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months as potential punishments.

A physical inspection of the premises must be conducted by Tourism Northern Ireland before a certificate can be issued. Checks establish whether establishments comply with the minimum legislative standards, for example on fire safety. Inspections are undertaken every four years. Accommodation providers are charged £20 per room to get a certificate, with a minimum fee of £80 and a maximum of £200.

There are currently no powers within Northern Ireland to restrict short-term and holiday letting activity, e.g. annual limits on the number of nights a property can be used as a holiday let.

Scotland

On 22 November 2021, the Scottish Government laid a Licensing Order before the Scottish Parliament which requires all local authorities in Scotland to establish a licensing scheme by October 2022. All existing hosts will have until April 2023 to apply for a licence. The Licensing Order was approved by the Scottish Parliament in January 2022.

The Licensing Order applies to short-term lets only, which are defined in the legislation. The stated purpose of the Licensing Order is to ensure short-term lets are safe and address issues faced by neighbours; and to facilitate local authorities in knowing and understanding what is happening in their area as well as to assist with handling complaints effectively.

The Scottish Government has also introduced Short-term Let Control Areas which allow planning authorities to designate a location as a control area, thereby requiring prospective hosts to obtain change of use planning permission before they can offer short-term lets. Planning authorities can also restrict short-term letting activity in places or types of building.

Further information can be found on the Scottish Government website.

Wales

The Welsh Government is actively examining issues associated with short-term and holiday lets, and has publicly stated its ambition to establish a statutory registration or licensing scheme in Wales. The Welsh Government has also set out its intention to introduce legislation permitting local authorities to raise a tourism levy, and sees the introduction of a statutory registration or licensing scheme as being an important foundation for doing so. As it stands, there is currently no system for statutory registration or licensing of guest accommodation in Wales. Local authorities also do not have powers to restrict short-term and holiday letting activity.

England

As it stands, there is currently no system for statutory registration or licensing of guest accommodation in England. Only London has powers to restrict short-term and holiday letting activity, under the Greater London Council (General Powers) Act 1973 (as amended by Section 44 of the Deregulation Act 2015). This stipulates that use of any residential premises in Greater London as temporary sleeping accommodation is considered a ‘material change of use’ for the purposes of planning permission if used in this way for more than 90 nights per calendar year. This only applies to premises where the person providing the accommodation is liable to pay council tax. This section also provides for local authorities to request that the Secretary of State agrees to targeted localised exemptions from these stipulations, where it is necessary to ‘protect the amenity of the locality’.

Examples from other countries

The Netherlands

From 1 January 2021, municipalities can opt into a national registration scheme for short-term holiday lets. One-off registration obligations only apply therefore in municipalities that opt-in and not uniformly across the country. Registration numbers must be included in any advertisement.

In Amsterdam, permits are needed in addition to a registration number. There is a cost of just under 50 Euros for acquiring a permit which allows you to rent out your home or houseboat for a maximum of 30 nights per calendar year and to a maximum of 4 people at a time. Permit holders must report each period of holiday rental to the municipality, before guests arrive. Permits are annual. Fines for failure to comply go up to 21,750 Euros.

Portugal

Anyone wishing to advertise and provide guest accommodation must register electronically before doing so; short-term lets in houses, apartments and lodging establishments must register as ‘Local Lodging Establishments’. Registration numbers must be included in any advertisement. The national tourist board maintains a publicly available National Tourism Register. Registration is free. Registrants must provide a range of details including their name, address, the capacity of the premises, ID documentation and any relevant lease or rental agreement.

Local councils have powers to implement ‘containment areas’ within their locale which can restrict the number of short-term rental properties. For example, in some parts of Lisbon no new registrations are being processed because more than 20% of the properties are short-term rentals.

Barcelona, Spain

In Barcelona, anyone seeking to offer tourist accommodation to paying guests must register with the Catalonian Government. For example, home owners can apply to have their property approved and categorised as a ‘tourist household’. Advertisements must display a registration number. Properties must pass an inspection. Multiple fees are issued through the process, including an application fee and a ‘declaration’ fee. Operators must submit information about each booking.

Last year, the Barcelona City Council banned all short-term private room rentals. Other restrictions (e.g. night per year limits, exist for other types of rental).

Denmark

Since May 2019, entire homes can be used for short-term and holiday lets for up to 70 nights a year, though individual municipalities can vote to raise this to 100 nights. There are no night limits on sharing private rooms.

Greece

Anyone wishing to rent out their home to paying guests must register with the Independent Authority for Public Revenue and the registration number received through that process must be displayed on any listing. Fines of up to 5,000 Euros can apply to unregistered properties. Hosts are required to report on bookings/earnings on a monthly basis.

Across Greece there is a 90 day per calendar year limit on the rental of properties, although for some islands with small populations the limit is set at 60 days. Both limits can be exceeded if the host is able to prove that their total rental revenues do not exceed 12,000 Euros per year.

Ireland

In parts of the country designated ‘Rent Pressure Zones’, hosts are only allowed to short-term let their primary residence after having registered with local authorities. They can rent out their entire primary home for up to 90 days a year, and no more than 14 days at a time.

France

Individuals are allowed to rent out their primary residence in full for a maximum of 120 days per year. There are no limits on renting out a room within your primary residence. There are often greater restrictions on second homes but these vary by location.

In Paris, short-term rental providers must register with the city authorities if they are planning to rent out their entire property. This is a self-declaration process with no checks. There are fines of up to 5,000 Euros for listing unregistered properties.

USA

No national systems, with significant variation between States and/or cities. Examples include:

New York City, New York: Platforms are required to share data with the city on hosts, activity, types of listing offered and so forth. Hosts unwilling to do this cannot host guests for stays less than 30 nights in length, although there are some exemptions. There are also restrictions on renting out permanent residences in cases where the permanent resident is not present during the rental period.

Boston, Massachusetts: Only owner-occupied properties (host present during the stay) are allowed to be operated as short-term lets and need to register with the City of Boston before doing so on an annual basis. It costs $200 a year to register an entire primary home.

San Francisco, California: You can only offer short-term rentals if you are the permanent resident of the unit you wish to rent. This prevents individuals from offering short-term rentals in second homes, for example. To offer short-term rentals you need a Business Registration Certificate and the certificate number must be posted on all listings.

Japan

Anyone seeking to offer short-term rentals in Japan requires an operating licence. Operating numbers must be displayed on all listings or advertisements. There is a maximum limit of 180 days per year that bookings can be taken, although this is lower in some specific parts of the country. Acquiring a licence involves a building inspection as well as meeting certain other requirements in areas such as waste collection.

Question 11

Annex B: List of call for evidence questions

Accepted Answer

How to respond

The best way to respond to this call for evidence is by completing the online response form:

Start online response form

Alternatively you can email answers to the call for evidence questions to tourism-accommodation-registration-scheme@dcms.gov.uk. When sending in responses via the mailbox, please include answers to the ‘about you’ questions in the covering email.

However you respond, you do not need to answer every question.

About you

When providing a response to the mailbox, please let us know:

if you are responding as an individual or on behalf of an organisation (if you are responding on behalf of an organisation, please let us know the name)
what category of respondent you are (e.g. host, platform, local authority etc)
if you do not want the evidence you provide to be published when the government publishes a summary of the evidence collected through this process (e.g. if it is market sensitive)

If you respond using the online response form, your answers to these questions will be automatically collected. A Data Protection Privacy Notice is at Annex C.

Call for evidence questions

Question 1: Are you able to provide us with evidence illustrating the size and nature of the short-term and holiday letting market in England and/or its regions, and how that has changed over time?

This question is concerned with painting a picture of the market in England, in both revenue and people terms. Your answer should therefore focus on providing objective evidence, and not on providing an assessment of its consequences (e.g. on the housing market, which is covered in later questions).

For this question, the government is particularly interested in the following:

For any data provided, it would be helpful to have:

data illustrating the picture at a national level
data illustrating the picture in different regions of England
data that might help with equalities analysis (sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation and other protected characteristics listed in the Equality Act 2010), e.g. proportion of hosts on a platform that are male/female
data illustrating changes since 2010, including during the pandemic

If you are an online platform it would be helpful to have:

data on the number of active listings on your platform, and how that has changed over time
a breakdown of the types of listing on your platform (e.g. the number of listings run by property management companies versus individuals, the number of entire premises offered versus single rooms and the number where the listing is based on exclusive customer use as opposed to co-living with the host)
data illustrating a typical host or listing (e.g. average earnings per host/listing, average number of nights hosted per year)
data on occupancy rates (i.e. how often listed properties are made available per year, how this varies over the course of the year and how often they are used)
data on where listings are geographically/regionally located
data on the economic impact of short-term and holiday letting activity, including key source markets