Labour confirms national registration scheme for short lets

A mandatory short-lets registration scheme and tougher planning laws look set to take effect soon in England.

A Housing Ministry source told The Telegraph that a scheme would be introduced “as quickly as possible” while new rules are planned to give local councils power to carve out locations where holiday lets will require planning permission.

The short-term let rules were first pledged by former Conservative housing secretary Michael Gove after a consultation in February. He said that those letting homes would need planning permission from the summer and promised to go ahead with a national register of short-lets landlords, along with making changes to planning regulations.

Although the policy wasn’t in the Kings Speech or the Labour manifesto, there were signs before the election that Labour was on the same page; Westminster Labour group recently called for extensive new rules to control nuisance caused by the City’s 12,000 short-term lets. The Labour-run council demanded that the government implement registration rules and return to pre-2015 planning regulations.

Licensing schemes

Councils run similar registration scheme in Wales and Northern Ireland, while last year, Scottish councils began setting up licensing schemes, which have been slammed for causing hundreds of properties to close.

Conservative MSP, Miles Briggs, said in Holyrood in May that implementation had been “disastrous” and cited evidence from the Scottish B&B Association suggesting 67% of its members had reported that licensing costs had impacted their business revenue and affected their viability.

There are concerns that a locally run scheme in England could be a “mess”. Andy Fenner, chief executive of the Short-Term Accommodation Association, told The Telegraph: “We are worried that it [a registration scheme] is one step away from some poorly done licensing scheme, which is not what we want.”

A Ministry of Housing spokesman says: “We are introducing a short term lets registration scheme to help give councils greater oversight and control of housing in their areas.”