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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to require local authorities to verify that properties for short-term or holiday lets have a legal right to do so under freehold or leasehold agreements or any other legal restrictions on the use of their properties.

Individual leases and tenancy agreements are a matter for landlords and tenants. Where permission under the contract is required to sub-let but is not obtained then landlords have legal routes to enforce the contract.

Where short term lets breach planning control, responsibility for enforcement lies with local authorities, who already have numerous legislative powers to take action. We do not intend to introduce new legislation to require a short term lets register. Instead, the Government is taking a non-regulatory approach by encouraging the Short Term Accommodation Association to drive up standards and promote best practice in the industry, and to share data on booking with local authorities to aid their enforcement and monitoring functions.