Legislation dating from the 1970s which sought to preclude the use of homes as temporary visitor-related accommodation in London has been lifted, following a government consultation.
Much trailed in the London press earlier in 2015, previously, short-term lets (of less than 90 days) were technically a material change of use (to a sui generis use). This restricted owners from ‘lawfully’ turning their residential properties into temporary visitor-related accommodation in the capital, without the benefit of planning permission.
In particular, the legislation became headline grabbing news during the London Olympics 2012, where boroughs (including Camden, Tower Hamlets, Islington, City of Westminster, Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea, and Southwark) warned their residents that enforcement action may be taken against those who rented out residential accommodation to visitors without first obtaining planning permission. Westminster went one step further and invited neighbours to tip the Council off if they suspect properties are being used for short-term lettings.
All in all, it became pretty apparent that the legislation had failed to keep up with the times and was near impossible to enforce. With the likes of Air BnB increasing its market share of the visitor accommodation market in the face of the legislation, government has looked again at the restrictions borne of the legislation.
What are the changes to legislation?
From the 26 May 2015, Section 44 of the Deregulation Act 2015 will relax the temporary visitor accommodation rules, set out in Section 25 Greater London Council (General Powers) Act 1973.
This will mean that the use of any dwelling as temporary visitor accommodation will not constitute a material change of use (or require planning permission), if the two following conditions are met:
1) the number of nights of that the dwelling is used as temporary sleeping accommodation does not exceed 90 days, within a calendar year.
2) that the person (or at least one person) who provided the sleeping accommodation for the night was liable to pay council tax, under Part 1 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, for the property.
It is important to note that the boroughs will be able to seek their own localised exemptions and there are also other practical implications to consider when letting out your house.
What will this mean in practice?
Many homeowners will have been flouting the rules for years without realising it and to them this de-regulation will be welcome.
On the other hand, hotel/hostel/B&B operators may see this relaxation as a threat. Although the de-regulation is unlikely to cause any significant shift in homeowner behaviour, we envisage that some central London boroughs will be under pressure to seek exemptions, in order to protect businesses and the established character of central London. Watch this space!