Calls for clampdown on short-term holiday lets in Brighton and Hove
Councillors claim families are being priced out of living in the city due to properties offered on sites like Airbnb
Short-term holiday lets in Brighton and Hove could face regulations and restrictions after councillors unanimously backed taking a deeper look at the “saturation” of Airbnbs.
Green councillor Ellen McLeay called on Brighton and Hove City Council to lobby the government to give planning powers to local authorities to regulate short-term lets.
At a meeting of the full council last night (Thursday 11 July), she asked that officials prepare a report aimed at giving the council more power to deal with the issue.
Councillor McLeay cited the measures being taken to try to tackle the spread of houses in multiple occupation (HMOs).
She said that in her ward, West Hill and North Laine, there were almost entire streets given over to short-term lets, creating “ghost” neighbourhoods.
She cited a University College London study which found that areas of the capital with the most Airbnb listings tended to have higher weekly rents and a lack of affordable housing.
Councillor McLeay said: “A member of the North Laine Community Association commented last time we met on the reduction of families in the area.
“They are priced out and therefore there are fewer kids living in the area – another factor contributing to class number decline for our inner-city schools.”
One of those schools, St Bartholomew’s Primary School, which is in the West Hill and North Laine ward, is due to close later this year because of falling numbers.
Airbnb and Vrbo currently list 4,500 Brighton and Hove properties, she said, adding that Barcelona was one of the first European cities to bring in restrictions. Other big tourist destinations such as Florence, Lisbon and Paris have done the same.
Labour councillor Gill Williams, the cabinet member for housing and new homes, has previously tried to push for a voluntary registration scheme.
Councillor Williams has written to the Housing, Communities and Local Government Secretary Angela Rayner, asking the government to bring in licensing for all short-term holiday lets.
She also asked for a change to national planning policy to allow councils to control the number of licences in areas under pressure.
She said that she received a cabinet member briefing saying that 6,848 homes were listed on short-term letting sites over the past year. Of these, 4,964 listings were active and 78 per cent were entire homes.
Councillor Williams said: “We do fully appreciate that the tourism industry contributes a lot to the economy of our city and we can’t underestimate that either.
“It appears to me we are in a topsy-turvy world at the moment where we have many hotels and guest houses in this city that are used for emergency accommodation where we don’t have any homes for people.
“Here’s an idea, why don’t we put our residents in our homes and use our hotels for tourism.”
Conservative councillor Anne Meadows said that too many holiday lets were linked to noise nuisance and anti-social behaviour.
She said: “To have a register of those properties would be appropriate so we know where the majority are, although I suspect we already know that from the complaints.
“There will always be those who rent out their properties just for the weekend while they’re away.
“For Airbnbs that are full-time, it would be useful for us as an authority to have a register.
“(It would) also useful for those landlords seeking to rent out their properties so they know their consistent standard of property can be mentioned and be good for our economy at the same time.”