Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to balance the availability of affordable housing with the need to support the tourist economy, particularly in areas reliant on short-term property rentals.

We have announced a short-term let use class which will apply to properties that are not someone's sole or main home. Existing short-term lets will be reclassified to the new use class. Permitted development rights will allow properties to change use from a short-term let to a dwellinghouse and vice versa. Where there is an issue, the local planning authority may remove this right and require a planning application where in future a dwellinghouse seeks to become a short-term let.