The challenges of short term lets in rural housing communities

Holiday accommodation has seen a dramatic change in recent years with the emergence of platforms like Airbnb. The impact of this change on communities with extensive increases in properties (generally private rented sector properties) being converted to holiday short term lets is staggering; dramatically reducing long term rental options and increasing rental prices exponentially for permanent residents. Earlier this month CIH submitted two responses to government consultations on options to manage the steep rise in short term lets in certain locations in England (the devolved nations being substantially further forward in grappling with this issue). 

A few things to flag before I continue. Firstly, I am writing this in rural housing week, and this problem is acute in many rural locations, but short term lets (STLs) are not only a problem in rural and coastal holiday hotspots. Some city locations are hugely impacted too. STLs are highly unevenly distributed across England and in those areas where they are concentrated, coupled with the chronic and long term under supply of social housing, this situation is disastrous for many individuals and communities. This was brought to life in a recent BBC documentary by Simon Reeve on life in Cornwall.

Secondly, full disclosure I have stayed in an Airbnb more than once, they are after all very convenient and often in fantastic locations. So it would be entirely hypocritical of me to say we shouldn’t have them at all (although I have to say I have thought harder about my choices since holding the pen on the recent consultations and call for evidence  response in late 2021). We know that many of the holiday hotspots where short term lets are concentrated rely on tourism as the life blood of their economies, and clearly STLs can have a role in supporting the tourism industry. But in some locations, the balance has entirely tipped and STLs for holiday makers are in effect being prioritised over the right to adequate housing for local residents. This is not only morally wrong it is entirely unsustainable. Afterall, holiday hotspots don’t just need people to visit, they also need people to work in them and those people need somewhere to live!

In engaging with members and partners on this issue we heard accounts of people presenting as homeless because they simply could not find anywhere affordable to rent as so many previously private rental properties had been changed to more lucrative STLs. This included essential workers such as nurses and teachers who traditionally would have been private rented sector (PRS) landlords’ dream tenants. Some local authorities are having huge difficulties discharging their homelessness duties given the long term undersupply of social homes now coupled with the undersupply of PRS properties. Anecdotal evidence from our members told of people from outside the area accepting jobs in the public sector in their locality, only to withdraw their acceptance because they could not find somewhere affordable to rent near their new employment.  

The first government consultation on short term lets was from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities (DLUHC) and considered a new planning use class for short term lets and associated permitted development rights. The second was from the Department for Culture, Media and Sports (DCMS) and considered a registration scheme as a measure to control the impact on communities. In our responses we discussed that planning and registration could both have a role to play. However, we argued that there will not be a single solution to such a complex problem and that this needs to be tackled from a range of policy angles (including taxation – not mentioned in these proposals).

A registration scheme would help to harness better information and data (currently lacking) but must be linked to the planning system to be effective (i.e., any application for registration must have to demonstrate that the necessary planning approvals have been achieved). Also, whilst a registration scheme should be administered by local authorities, it would also need to link into a national database. Platforms advertising properties should be required to share information and ensure that the homes they advertise have valid registration.

The government’s proposals around planning involve a new use class and new permitted development rights (PDRs) to provide flexibility where short term lets are not a local issue, and the removal of those PDRs where there is a local concern (through an Article 4 directive). In essence, in our response we argued that whilst a new use class for short term lets should not be ruled out, there could be unintended consequences and limitations with this approach which must be fully considered. Notably that this will not deal with homes which have already been converted to holiday lets. The monitoring and enforcement of these proposals are also likely to be compromised by the lack of resources available to local planning authorities (a much wider issue). Also, the PDR proposal will in effect liberalise the situation yet further, and Article 4 directives will not be a strong enough tool to control the situation in many locations. In our response, we recommended exploring planning (and other approaches) taken by our devolved nation neighbours in Scotland and Wales in more depth, and also the consideration of proposals from the Royal Town Planning Institute who recommend an alternative planning approach. 

I will watch with interest the government’s response to the consultation submissions. Everyone deserves a safe, affordable and suitable home and STLs are dramatically undermining this in certain places, including many rural locations. It is undeniably positive that the government have recognised this as an issue but given the pressing nature of the impact of STLs in some areas, government should urgently consider the most effective and quickest measures to tackle the problem. They need to ensure that these work with, and do not undermine, the welcome security for long term renters being introduced through the Renters Reform Bill. It is vital to note that any measures to be undertaken, monitored and enforced by local authorities must be adequately resourced by central government. To ask local authority teams to continually do more with less is unsustainable and for any of the measures suggested in the consultations (or any other proposals) to have impact and be successful it is essential that suitable resourcing is provided. We’ll be exploring this issue further at our South West conference in September.