Hundreds of Airbnb-style hosts have built lucrative property empires in London consisting of more than 20 short-term lets, new research has found.
Housing chiefs fear Londoners are being squeezed out of the rental market as one in 32 homes – or just over 3 per cent – in the capital are let out to short-stay guests.
Landlords are believed to be making £450 million ($566.8 million) a year just from visitors in Westminster, home to some of the UK's best-known landmarks.
Findings handed to 12 London councils by estate agent Savills said short-term lets account for 40 per cent of private rental stock in Westminster and 35 per cent in Kensington and Chelsea. Westminster Council is warning of “upward pressure” on London's already sky-high rents amid calls for tighter controls.
Out of 117,000 short-term rental properties in London, almost a quarter (24 per cent) are owned by just one per cent of hosts, according to the new research. Each of their portfolios consists of more than 20 homes.
“The extensive and lucrative short-term let market in central London is inhibiting Londoners’ access to affordable, secure housing,” said the leader of Westminster Council, Adam Hug. “London is a global city with a thriving tourism industry, but we need to get the balance right so that Londoners can continue to live in the city they call home.”
Ninety-day limit
Labour-controlled Westminster Council said local authorities were being pushed “closer to effective bankruptcy” by the cost of finding temporary accommodation for Londoners, as it warned owners could be breaking the law if they let out their homes for more than 90 days a year. London landlords need planning permission to rent out properties on short-term lets for longer than that.
The idea is that Londoners can “earn a little extra money” on websites such as Airbnb, Vrbo and Booking.com, but the rules are “not designed to provide opportunities for the commercial sector”, according to Mayor of London Sadiq Khan's office.
Richard Olszewski, the leader of Camden Council in north London, called for “stronger, more effective regulation” of the sector. Updated rules could “prevent the loss of vital permanent housing stock for Londoners, contribute towards councils’ confidence to invest in direct delivery of social housing, and make the tourism industry more sustainable for the businesses reliant on it,” he said.
Airbnb said last year that the UK's housing crisis was “unrelated to short-term rentals”. It said Airbnb trips contributed £1.5 billion ($1.89 billion) to London's economy, more than in any other part of Britain.
