Mark Field MP, Councillors Acton and Cox, WCC officers and residents' representatives have visited Brandon Lewis, the Housing Minister, to ask for protection against industrial-scale holiday letting in Hyde Park and elsewhere in Westminster. Nobody minds homeowners earning a bit extra through AirBnB and other short letting websites. However, when this activity takes over most of a block or a property on your street on a regular basis, the turnover of people, noise and refuse disposal problems can be overwhelming for neighbours and may invalidate building insurance. The high rent short-letters can drive out long-term owners and tenants, making London's housing shortage worse. Short-letting is often a breach of lease obligations, but this is not something the Council can enforce against.
We are asking for defined locations, where residents are badly affected, to be exempted from the Deregulation Act which gives permission to short-let for ninety days a year, along with other measures to make it easier to enforce against problem short-lets.
