Oral Answers to Questions

Duncan Baker Excerpts

Thursday 22nd February 2024 Commons Chamber

[Selaine Saxby (North Devon) (Con)]

2. What progress her Department has made on introducing a national registration system for short-term lets.

[Duncan Baker (North Norfolk) (Con)]

3. What progress her Department has made on introducing a national registration system for short-term lets.

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)]

8. What progress her Department has made on introducing a national registration system for short-term lets.

--- Later in debate ---

[Duncan Baker]

North Norfolk has a significant number of holiday lets, Airbnbs and the like. I am glad that the Minister says the Government will look at this in moderation because, in life, too much of anything is sometimes a bad thing. There is a difference, a nuance, between a person who rents out a room in their home via Airbnb to earn some extra income and whole streets and areas being turned into holiday lets. Can the Minister assure me that we will properly consider the nuances?

[Julia Lopez]

I can provide my hon. Friend with that assurance. We are aware that the proliferation of short-term lets has caused real concern in communities such as his. We do not want to clamp down in a way that will make life difficult for people who rent out their rooms on a very irregular basis, but as he said, when whole streets are causing a problem, we think the most important thing is that we get an understanding of the scale of the problem. Our scheme is designed to give us that data and the next steps can be taken after that.