Today, Rachael Maskell MP for York Central, is launching her Airbnb and Holidays Lets Licensing clause with the support of a broad range of MPs across parties.
Her new clause, which she has requested to be added to the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, would require Airbnb or Short-Term Let Holiday properties to be licensed, and would enable Local Authorities to limit or deny licenses in areas with an acute shortage of housing for local people.
This comes in a week where Airbnb has been dubbed a “Money Machine” for landlords, following findings that Landlords in London can make over £10,000 more per month by renting on Airbnb rather than providing a long term home, stacking the incentives against long term renters. In York, it is currently estimated that there are over 2,000 properties listed as short-term rentals, 85% of which are for entire homes, while almost 1,000 people in the city are on the Council’s list waiting for a home.
Rachael Maskell MP:
“This is one of many areas where our distracted and divided Government’s failure to act, is causing real and lasting damage our housing and communities. Failure to act on this issue is adding to the daily misery of families who can’t find a home and are finding themselves forced out of their local areas, as housing supply tightens and rents . In Scotland and Wales, regional governments have taken decisive and bold action to curb the expansion of this unregulated market, putting power back in the hands of local people.
“We know that in some tourist hotspots over 50% of homes are now short term holiday lets, and there are little signs of this slowing down. We urgently need to get a grip on this situation before it is too late, but all we get out of the Government is consultation and prevarication. As things stand, in a city like York where there is so much planned development, there is a real risk that investors will flip most new homes straight to short term lets, & despite the City of York’s eye-watering investment in the site, York Central will just become another Airbnb Central.
“Talking to constituents, I also know the concentration of these properties in some communities is causing serious misery and disruption, and yet as things stand local people are powerless to do anything about it.
“My licensing scheme would give local communities the power to take control of the situation and end this unrestrained exploitation of our housing market. It would also give Local Authorities the power they need to regulate the holiday lets, allowing them to sanction or even close down nuisance properties that are causing community disruption”
“Ahead of today, I have secured the support from 10 MPs from across the House who have co-signed my new clause, and will be working hard in the coming months to build on this support before the clause comes before MPs later this session.”
About the New Clause 80
Rachael Maskell MP presented the New Clause in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill Committee today. The clause is being supported by a group of 10 MPs from a range of parties. The full clause can be viewed on today’s Levelling Up and Regeneration Amendment paper.