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The Hospitality and Tourism All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) has published a report into short-term lets and the visitor economy.
The report concludes that the planned short-term lets registration scheme, committed to by the Government, should be national in its scope and mandatory for short-term lets.
Following an evidence session, which UKHospitality contributed to, the APPG says such a scheme would solve a number of existing issues, including a lack of data on short-term lets and insufficient transparency as to their location and function.
What did the report recommend?
The report said that it was ‘essential’ that each short-term let is regulated to the same standard as the wider accommodation sector.
It made three key recommendations to the Government:
- 1
Establish a national set of aggregated data on short-term lets in England.
- 2
Allow local authorities to enforce compliance of registered short-term let properties against health, safety and other relevant legislation.
- 3
The scheme should collect comprehensive data, including key property information, which can be used to enforce clear and proportionate penalties.
Read the full report.
APPG for Hospitality and Tourism - short-term lets and the visitor economy
Our contribution
Our Chief Executive Kate Nicholls gave evidence to the APPG, as part of its inquiry, and made the following points:
We advocate for a short-term letting registration scheme enforced at a local levels, with proof of adherence with existing health and safety requirements being presented at registration. This should also be integrated into existing local inspection programmes for all letting and hospitality businesses.
We propose that short-term lets would have to supply relevant documentation to the enforcement body in a similar way other venues do, for example for licensing or health and safety. The local authority would document this as part of their existing protocol and then pass the data to the responsible party for aggregating data for short-term lettings.
Properties should have to provide a copy of health and safety information, such as a gas certificate or fire risk assessment, as a pre-requisite to registration. This should be required over and above a simply tick-box confirmation.
Registration should be consistent across England and data produced should be aggregated at a national level.
Hear from the APPG chair
Simon Jupp MP (East Devon), Chair of the Hospitality and Tourism APPG
Simon Jupp MP (East Devon), Chair of the Hospitality and Tourism APPG, said: “The accommodation sector has seen such rapid change over the past 15 years, with digital platforms leading to a boom in the number of short-term lets operating.
The Hospitality and Tourism APPG fully supports the Government’s decision to introduce a registration scheme and we are recommending in this report that it is implemented nationally and made mandatory for all letting businesses.
“Such a move would solve several immediate issues. Most notably, it would bring short-term lets up to the legal standard required of other accommodation providers, particularly for health and safety. Ensuring these properties are safe for paying guests is the bare minimum this scheme should be delivering.
“Requirements to be registered before being allowed to feature on digital platforms would provide vital protections for consumers and build greater confidence into the accommodation market.”
