Green Group Amendment
Short Term Lets Licensing Motion
That the relevant changes are made to the recommendations as shown below in strikethrough and bold italics:
This committee notes:
· The disruption, distress, and exacerbation to the housing supply crisis that the rise in short term holiday lettings such as AirBnB have inflicted on our local communities
· That some short-term holiday lets have replaced long term rental accommodation, stifling supply of rented accommodation and in turn driving rents up and conditions down
·
The detrimental
impact holiday lets have on local hotels, bed and breakfast
establishments and our local
hospitality industry, and on our aim
for a circular local economy that builds community
wealth
This council also notes:
· The council has previously reviewed options to regulate short term lets (1) (2), which confirmed that it has no powers to license short term lets
· The government have recently assessed the impact of short term lets in England (3) and have launched a consultation on regulation in June 2022, which closes on 21st September. (4)
Therefore, this Council resolves to:
1) Request TECC
Committee task officers with bringing forward a report
that
helps tackle the
issues created by short term holiday lets in the
city
1) Request a report to come to next TECC Committee which provides updates on the report from March 20, including new legislation in Wales, changes in tax policy, and suggestions made by AirBnB themselves (5)
2)Submit a response to the government’s call for evidence
2) Further
request TECC Committee to ask officers to include in the report
plans to:
· Require
mandatory licensing for all short term lets, and to ensure they are
brought in line with rented accommodation in terms of the standards
we expect and enforce as a local authority
· Make
licenses dependent upon owners producing health and safety
certificates to ensure compliance
3) Request the Chief Executive write to the Housing Secretary, lobbying for powers to;
· Designate a minimum percentage of rented housing to be reserved for long term lets, and place a cap on the number of holiday lets
·
Rescind licenses
if holiday lets prove a nuisance to residents
· Introduce a licensing scheme similar to that laid out by the Welsh Government, to not only limit the number of second homes and holiday lets, but to ensure fair taxation is extracted from them
· Change planning laws to require landlords wishing to convert their property into a holiday let to have to apply for change of use to a new class use for holiday lets
Sources:
(1) Party Houses Scrutiny Panel in 2014
(2) TECC committee report in March 2020
(3) The Growth in Short-Term Lets (England) Government report
(4) Government Consultation link
Proposed by:
Cllr Osborne
Seconded by: Cllr Ebel
Motion to read if carried:
This committee notes:
· The disruption, distress, and exacerbation to the housing supply crisis that the rise in short term holiday lettings such as AirBnB have inflicted on our local communities
· That some short-term holiday lets have replaced long term rental accommodation, stifling supply of rented accommodation and in turn driving rents up and conditions down
· The detrimental impact holiday lets have on local hotels, bed and breakfast establishments and our aim for a circular local economy that builds community wealth
This council also notes:
· The council has previously reviewed options to regulate short term lets (1) (2), which confirmed that it has no powers to license short term lets
· The government have recently assessed the impact of short term lets in England (3) and have launched a consultation on regulation in June 2022, which closes on 21st September. (4)
Therefore, this Council resolves to:
1) Request a report to come to next TECC Committee which provides updates on the report from March 20, including new legislation in Wales, changes in tax policy, and suggestions made by AirBnB themselves (5)
2)Submit a response to the government’s call for evidence
3) Request the Chief Executive write to the Housing Secretary, lobbying for powers to;
· Designate a minimum percentage of rented housing to be reserved for long term lets, and place a cap on the number of holiday lets
· Introduce a licensing scheme similar to that laid out by the Welsh Government, to not only limit the number of second homes and holiday lets, but to ensure fair taxation is extracted from them
· Change planning laws to require landlords wishing to convert their property into a holiday let to have to apply for change of use to a new class use for holiday lets
Sources:
(6) Party Houses Scrutiny Panel in 2014
(7) TECC committee report in March 2020
(8) The Growth in Short-Term Lets (England) Government report
(9) Government Consultation link