Government proposals on limiting short lets "fall a long way short of what's needed and will do nothing to put right an already serious problem for our city", says Oxford City Council.
On Monday (19 February), the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) set out plans to introduce regulation to the short-let sector, which has enjoyed an uncontrolled boom since the rise of websites like Airbnb and Vrbo.
These plans include the introduction of a new planning class which means people letting out entire properties as short lets will need to get planning permission first.
This is a change the Council has repeatedly lobbied for since 2018.
However, this would only apply to new short lets. Existing short lets would be automatically entitled to permission.
This will do nothing to ease problems like illegal and antisocial behaviour from party houses or - in the most extreme cases - pop-up brothels.
It will also mean the continued loss of hundreds of homes for people who want to live in Oxford.
In responding to DLUHC consultation last year, the Council said planning permission should be required for short lets rented more than 30 days a year.
The DLUHC's proposals say planning permission should only be needed for a property rented out for 90 days or more, where this is the owner’s sole or main residence.
The Council has taken successful planning enforcement action preventing entire properties being let as short lets - in line with its Local Plan.
These new proposals would undermine that work.
It is difficult to quantify how many short lets there are. The last public data from AirDNA in July 2023 showed 765 properties in Oxford rented out entirely on this basis.
That number is now likely to be higher.
While details are not yet available, the DLUHC is also now proposing a national register of short lets.
The Council has repeatedly called for a mandatory register - like its own licensing schemes for all private rented homes – run and enforceable by councils.
Comment
"This is a classic case of closing the stable door after the horse has bolted. DLUHC's proposals fall a long way short of what's needed and will do nothing to put right an already serious problem for our city.
"We've been asking government for powers to regulate whole-property short lets for years. And while we welcome - finally - a new planning class to restrict more of them, how is it okay to ignore the many hundreds of homes now used as short lets and say they can carry on as they are?
"We want people to visit and stay in our amazing city. Oxford has so much to offer. But uncontrolled short lets are a blight on our communities, they deprive us of much-needed homes and deepen our affordability crisis.
"We hoped the government was serious about change. It seems not."
Councillor Susan Brown, Leader of Oxford City Council
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