Oxford City Council has won another planning appeal banning the use of a property for short let accommodation.
On 7 July last year, the council issued a planning enforcement notice against the owner of a property in Shirelake Close being used as a short let.
This followed complaints from the public and councillors about antisocial behaviour and nuisance at the property.
The owner appealed to the Planning Inspectorate, which has now dismissed the appeal and required the owner to stop using the property as a short let from 22 December.
The problem of short lets
The rise of websites like Airbnb and Vrbo has led to a rapid increase in the number of short lets in Oxford in the last decade.
The last publicly available data from AirDNA in July recorded 1,325 short lets in Oxford, with 765 (58%) of these let as entire properties.
As AirDNA is reporting a 13% annual growth in Oxfordshire short lets, the true figures are likely to be significantly higher.
The increase in renting out entire properties for all or most of the year has resulted in the loss of valuable homes in one of the UK’s most unaffordable housing markets.
In the worst cases, short lets have been used for illegal or antisocial purposes. Short lets are often in quiet residential neighbourhoods and the strain this causes can be immense.
The short-let sector is virtually unregulated. This means the council has little power to enforce standards it requires for other rented accommodation.
It is also difficult to tackle issues like antisocial behaviour and nuisance when there is a stream of different people using a property,
The council has taken successful planning enforcement action in a number of cases for changing the use of a house into holiday accommodation without planning permission.
However, this is a lengthy process which relies on people making complaints about individual properties.
Is regulation on the way?
Since 2018, the council has repeatedly lobbied for powers to put whole house short lets on a level playing field with other privately rented and commercial tourist accommodation.
Change may be on the way.
Earlier this year, the government held separate consultations on a potential registration scheme and a new planning use class for short lets.
In its response, the council repeated its call for a mandatory registration licensing scheme for whole house short lets, run and enforceable by councils.
Mandatory registration would ensure owners meet minimum safety standards. It would make investigating complaints significantly easier and allow the council to set conditions addressing local needs or concerns – like restricting noise levels at night or littering.
In extreme cases, it would provide the council with wider and easier-to-use powers to act against the illegal use of short lets.
The council also agreed with the proposal to introduce a new planning class for homes rented out as short lets for more than 30 days a year. It said owners should not have automatic permission to change a family home to a short let.
The introduction of a new planning class for short lets would allow the council to restrict their numbers and location and for enforceable conditions to be applied where necessary.
This would help prevent the loss of much-needed housing and reduce adverse impacts on local communities.
Comment
“I’m really pleased that the Planning Inspectorate has found in our favour and banned the use of a property in Shirelake Close as a short let. But it’s taken nearly 18 months and once again it shows the current system is not fit for purpose when dealing with problems caused by whole house short lets.
“We live in one the least affordable places for housing in the UK and there are more than 800 properties let out entirely as short lets in Oxford. We need those for people to live in and not as holiday accommodation.
“At the same time, antisocial and illegal behaviour by people using short lets causes misery in our communities.
“We want a mandatory registration scheme and planning reforms making it easier to deal with these problems. The government has consulted on changes to the short-let sector. Now it’s time to act.”
Councillor Linda Smith, Cabinet Member for Housing
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