Short-term holiday lets could face regulations

Short-term holiday lets in Brighton and Hove could face regulations and restrictions after councillors unanimously backed taking a deeper look at the “saturation” of Airbnbs.

At a meeting of Brighton & Hove City Council on Thursday, Green councillor Ellen McLeay asked that officials prepare a report aimed at giving the council more power to deal with the issue.

Ms McLeay said families were being "priced out" of the city centre and short-term lets were creating "ghost neighbourhoods".

An Airbnb spokesperson said its guests "accounted for a very low proportion of total visitors to Brighton & Hove last year" and contributed "tens of millions to the local economy".

The spokesperson added that "housing supply and affordability challenges are primarily driven by a lack of new homes being built".

Ms McLeay cited a University College London study which found that areas of the capital with the most Airbnb listings tended to have higher weekly rents and a lack of affordable housing, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Holiday rental sites Airbnb and Vrbo currently list 4,500 Brighton and Hove properties, she said.

Ms McLeay added: “[Families] are priced out and therefore there are fewer kids living in the area – another factor contributing to class number decline for our inner-city schools.”

One of those schools, St Bartholomew’s Primary School, is due to close later this year because of falling numbers.

Labour councillor Gill Williams, cabinet member for housing and new homes, previously tried to push for a voluntary registration scheme.

She also asked for a change to national planning policy to allow councils to control the number of licences in areas under pressure.

Ms Williams said: “We do fully appreciate the tourism industry contributes a lot to the economy of our city."

Conservative councillor Anne Meadows said too many holiday lets were linked to noise nuisance and anti-social behaviour.

She said: “To have a register of those properties would be appropriate so we know where the majority are, although I suspect we already know that from the complaints."

The Airbnb spokesperson added: "We have zero tolerance for bad behaviour, parties are banned on our platform, and we may remove users who violate our strict policies.

"Our 24/7 Neighbour Support line enables anyone concerned about a listing to contact us at any time.”

Vrbo has been approached for comment.

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