Industry News


Huge growth in short term lettings is cutting thousands of private rentals


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early half a million properties could be removed from the rental market, creating huge demand pressures and forcing up


rents as more landlords exit the sector and move into short-term lets. Regulatory and taxation changes, as well as a


growing market for holiday flats and city breaks (through Airbnb and similar sites) is persuading hundreds of landlords to quit the private rental sector. Ministers are being urged to change regulations


so there is an even playing field in terms of tax and tenancy protection, as well as introducing more stringent limits on the length of short-term lets in order to protect local renting markets. Homeowners in London are allowed to rent out


their properties for short-term lets without planning permission for up to 90 nights a year, but the Greater London Authority has said that 23 per cent of those offering short-term lets ignored the cap. Data from Camden council in north London


suggested that 48 per cent of landlords are illegally letting their properties out as holiday homes. Councillors said the problem was so pronounced that some local schools cannot fill their classrooms and families are moving away from the area because of a lack of housing. ARLA Propertymark has recently analysed the


scale of Britain’s short-term lets sector and the wider implications for the private rented sector in their report ‘Impact of short term lets’. David Cox, ARLA Propertymark Chief Executive


said: “The growth in short-term lets is particularly concerning for the traditional private rented sector. As landlords are continuously faced with increased levels of legislation, it’s no surprise they are


considering short-term lets as a chance to escape this. Unless the sector is made more attractive, landlords will continue to exit the market resulting in less available properties and increased rent costs.” Among their key findings, are the following:


• Short-term lettings via online platforms has grown quickly over the past decade, with around 225,000 active listings on one site alone in 2017/18;


• 16 per cent of adults in have let out all or part of their property on a short-term basis over the past two years; most commonly they have let out their main residence but over three per cent of people have let out a property they own but do not usually live in;


• The scale of short-term letting activity varies widely between locations; the number of listings in the London Borough of Westminster was equivalent to 6.7 per cent of its total dwelling stock compared to 0.2 per cent in the London Borough of Havering;


• Almost one-quarter of landlords surveyed currently let out properties on short-term lets, while 12 per cent of these have done this by changing the use of a property that was previously used for long-term lets;


• Almost 50,000 properties have already been made unavailable to long-term tenants in order for landlords to pursue short-term lets;


• Increased flexibility and burdensome regulations in the long-term let sector were the main reasons for landlords to switch to short-term lets;


• Ten per cent of landlords surveyed said they were ‘very likely’ or ‘fairly likely’ to offer short-term lets in the future in properties that are currently used for long-term tenancies.


If only the landlords that said they were ‘very likely’ to move to offering short-term lets were to do so, between 80 and 230 thousand properties could be unavailable for residents looking to rent, which is equivalent to between 1.5 and 4.3 per cent of the privately rented stock in Great Britain. However, if the landlords that said they were


‘very likely’ or ‘fairly likely’ to move to offering short-term lets were to do so, between 200 and 470 thousand properties could be unavailable for residents looking to rent, which is equivalent to between 4 and 9 per cent of the privately rented stock in Great Britain.


Commons committee launches survey on dangerous cladding


The Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee has launched a survey to understand the extent of dangerous cladding and other fire safety defects on residential buildings, and the impact this is having on residents’ lives. The quick to complete survey invites residents to


tell MPs what the fire safety issues on their buildings have been, detail the impact this has had on them, whether it be financial or emotional, and


give their views on the Government’s response. The survey will inform the Committee's recently


launched inquiry - Cladding: progress on remediation. The inquiry will examine the scale of issues facing residents in buildings due to combustible cladding. It will also look at the effectiveness of


Government support for the removal of all form of dangerous cladding from existing buildings, in particular the pace of remediation. Following the Grenfell Tower fire, it was found


that the use of a number of forms of dangerous cladding on residential buildings was widespread. The impact on residents is not limited to the elevated fire risk due to the installation of combustible cladding on their properties. There have been additional consequences that


have caused significant financial and emotional strain. Residents have found themselves footing the bill for round-the-clock fire patrols, increased


10 | HMM April/May 2020 | www.housingmmonline.co.uk


insurance premiums and difficulties in accessing mortgage finance. Committee Chair Clive Betts MP said: "We have


launched this survey to get a real understanding of the impact that the on-going failure to resolve the cladding crisis has had on people's lives. Our aim is to find out what more needs to be done to end the financial and mental stress that thousands of residents are still going through. “In the budget, the Government announced


further funding for the removal of all types of cladding from existing buildings. We cannot be complacent however. If thousands of residents remain in limbo, facing huge costs for fire patrols or unable to mortgage their home, it will simply not be good enough.” We hope that this will be the most


comprehensive survey of residents' real life experiences of dealing with fire safety concerns in their buildings."


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