The main driver behind these decisions is combating the current housing crisis and reducing the number of buildings in major cities and tourist hotspots that are left empty when they do not have guests checking in. According to the BBC, the number of holiday lets in England alone rose by 40 per cent between 2018 and 2021, with North Devon and Scarborough seeing steep increases. The pandemic further compounded the issue, with people buying second homes in these areas.
City Hall also reported that in 2019, London had a staggering 80,770 properties listed on Airbnb – 56 per cent of which were entire homes. The capital is also one of the worst-affected areas when it comes to the housing crisis, with one in four Londoners living in poverty after paying for their homes as of November 2023. By October 2023, private rental prices in London also rose by 6.8 per cent over the course of 12 months, and just 1 in 6 privately rented homes in the city met the Decent Homes Standard.
Rent prices and housing markets should, in theory, stabilise as a result of the new rules, meaning more affordable housing for locals. The new rules are also designed to safeguard communities and prevent a so-called “hollowing out” effect.
St Ives, CornwallGetty Images
Malcolm Bell, Chair of Visit Cornwall, told us: “We have lobbied for statutory registration for almost a decade, and it must apply to any premises where someone pays to stay even for only one night, to ensure accurate data, a cost-effective means of informing and supporting short let operators, and, most importantly, that they are all safe and legal. We believe that this would be beneficial for visitors, operators, and communities in Cornwall.”
Max Cambridge, a 33-year-old video editor who uses short-term Airbnb rentals for business purposes, however, shared his concerns about the new rules. “It will mean less availability, fewer cost-effective options and, ultimately, less tourism,” he said. “While staying in an Airbnb for work, my partner and I rented out our house to help cover the costs. If the new legislation had come in when we had received those bookings, we wouldn’t have had time to prepare the property and sort through the admin.”