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Proposed holiday let rules/consultation

Journalist: Anna Sagar, Mortgage Solutions / Specialist Lending Solutions

ended 14. April 2023

Seeking mortgage brokers' views on government's proposals to introduce planning permission for existing homes to be used as short-term lets and opening a consultation on whether they give owners flexibility to let out their homes for 30, 60 or 90 days and whether there should be a registration scheme for short-term lets. 

  • Are these proposals a good idea? Which cohorts of buyers will it benefit? 
  • Could this have a knock-on effect on the holiday let market? 
  • Are there other measures you would want to see? 

2 responses from the Newspage community

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Joe Stallard
Director and Advisor at House and Holiday Home Mortgages
Professionalising the holiday let sector should ultimately help consumers, which is always a good thing.

Our holiday let landlords often say they welcome the increased regulation to drive cowboys out the industry. There will be many out there without the appropriate mortgage products, dabbling on Airbnb and delivering a poor product - that is no good for anyone.

Caution needs to be applied here, however. In the grand scheme of things, the holiday let market is tiny. Yes, some locations need help but, on the whole, local markets will self-regulate through supply and demand where the good survive and the rest sell up.

Over-regulating with policies that haven’t been thought through can have dire consequences, just look at the buy-to-let market right now.

Stating these changes are the way to help first-time buyers buy in those areas is either political headlining or once again shows how far the government’s figure is from the pulse with regards to housing.
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Marcus Wright
Managing Director at Bolton Business Finance
Yet more red tape and government bureaucracy are the last things the property market needs. Making it harder to let out a property for short stays and holidays, is bad for the economy and could also have a big impact on the tourism industry. Holiday lets bring in well-needed income for farms/land owners, hospitality, pubs, restaurants and hundreds of rural villages/towns. These proposals are very unnecessary and damaging.