Councillors to look into effects of holiday lets in Brighton and Hove
There are concerns the number of properties listed on websites like Airbnb are creating 'ghost neighbourhoods'
Councillors have agreed to take a closer look into what can be done to deal with the issue of short-term holiday lets in Brighton and Hove.
They voted to set up a “task and finish” group to look at the effects of short-term lets after a report to Brighton and Hove City Council’s Place Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
Green councillor Ellen McLeay asked for a report in July into how the council can use planning powers to limit holiday lets, sometimes generically referred to as Airbnbs.
For the task and finish group, a short-term let is defined as a house that is not a sole or main residence but used for holidays, leisure, recreation, business or other travel.
There are an estimated 4,000 to 5,000 short-term lets in Brighton and Hove. In 2013, there were about 500 and in 2018 about 3,000.
The report to the committee yesterday (Tuesday 1 October) said that short-term lets benefited the economy by providing an overlap between hotels and bed and breakfasts for those who preferred more space and affordability.
It also said that restricting or banning short-term lets could make visitor accommodation more expensive and limit availability.
As a result of the boom in holiday lets, fewer properties are available for sale or long-term lets.
Brighton and Hove Independent councillor Bridget Fishleigh asked whether now was the right time for such a task and finish group, with no legislation empowering the council to restrict holiday lets.
Labour councillor Amanda Evans, who chairs the committee, said that the market leader, Airbnb, had offered a registration service
She said that the council could invite the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to send someone to the working group to discuss potential legislation and a timeline.
In September 2022, Councillor Evans was unsuccessful in her attempted to gather cross-party support for setting up a holiday and short-term let registration scheme.
She said that there was a need to take action because, when she knocked on doors in Kemp Town, many were short-term lets.
Councillor Evans said: “There are masses of houses where they’ve got a council tax payer listed. There’s someone on the electoral roll. Presumably, they’re paying for one person’s council tax.
“They’re not registered as Airbnbs. They’re not registered as holiday lets. Yet they have one of those push-button key boxes on the door.
“Half the houses in those streets off the seafront are being run as completely unlicensed unregulated B and Bs.
“They’re not paying taxes. They’re not doing their fire regs. They’re not paying business rates. They’re getting away with giving the council ordinary council tax and making a fortune.
“You knock on the door on a Saturday and a bunch of hens or stags open the door to you and you ask to speak to Mr Smith and they go: ‘Nah, nobody lives here. It’s a full-time Airbnb.’
“A voluntary register would help with that.”
Conservative councillor Ivan Lyons asked if the task and finish group could look at holiday lets advertising.
Councillor Lyons said: “I had a message from a resident on this topic. There are short-term lets in a road in Hove where they’re advertising on the website ‘free parking’ at two houses.
“It’s causing a nightmare for residents because there’s a flood of cars and only so many spaces.
“Can you (the task and finish group) monitor the advertising because it’s affecting the residents who do pay for permits and there are not enough parking spaces and it’s causing friction.”
He was told that the task and finish group’s scoping report listed parking as a potential cause of nuisance and anti-social behaviour.
In 2013, a council scrutiny panel looked at “party houses” which catered for large groups of people on stag and hen weekends.
Currently, short-term lets in England are classified as residential use, meaning that in most cases they do not require planning permission.
A number of cities including Barcelona, Amsterdam, Berlin and New York have taken measures ranging from total bans to limiting the number of nights a year an Airbnb-style property can be let.