WIREDGOV

The RLA yesterday welcomed the establishment of a new All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) looking into short term lets.

The APPG, which has been set up by the Westminster North MP Karen Buck, held its first meeting on Tuesday.

The APPG will look into how to balance competing interests involved when it comes to short term lets. It will also focus on how councils can enforce short term lets effectively, in order to manage the impact of short lets on residential communities.

The RLA’s research arm, PEARL, has been researching the growth of short term lets and the rising popularity of sites such as Airbnb for over four years.

In 2016, RLA research revealed that over a twelve month period, the number of listings on Airbnb had increased by over 60%. As part of this research, in a sample of 1,463 landlords, 7% of landlords said they were moving their properties from long-term lets to short term lets. One in three landlords said that the reasons for doing so was due to changes in mortgage interest relief.

Speaking about the new short term lets APPG, RLA policy manager John Stewart yesterday said:

“We welcome the news that a new APPG has been set up looking into short term lets.

“The RLA has been researching the rise in short term lettings for a number of years now. Our previous research into this area has shown that landlords have turned to short-term lets partly due to changes in the past few years to mortgage interest relief.

“As these changes continue to bite, it will be interesting to take a closer look at this trend, and also look at what can be done to make sure short-term lets operate in the best interests of everyone”.