Short-term Lets: Licensing

10. What recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the introduction of a licensing scheme for short-term lets.

Ministers in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government engage regularly with ministerial colleagues across Government in relation to a range of housing policy matters. We continue to consider what additional powers we might give local authorities to enable them to respond to the pressures created by short-term lets, as well as second homes.

In my constituency, Whitby is being hollowed out by short-term lets. Bordered by the sea and a national park, house building cannot solve the problem of a lack of affordable housing for residents. We must also release more existing homes for families in the town. Will the Minister commit to legislating on licensing for short-term lets at the earliest opportunity in this Parliament? Registration schemes, while welcome, will not be robust enough to tackle the problem.

To be clear, there is no credible solution to the housing crisis that does not involve significantly boosting housing supply, but my hon. Friend is absolutely right to argue that the distribution of homes in any given area has a significant bearing on housing availability and affordability. As she knows, the Government have already made changes to the tax system to reorientate the housing markets away from second-home owners and investors and towards local people looking for homes to live in. While I cannot commit to future legislation, I assure her that we continue to consider how best to ensure that local planning authorities have the full set of tools they need to manage challenges of the kind described by my hon. Friend.

Last week I met representatives from 22 town and parish councils who were all deeply concerned that new Government policies are curtailing their power over planning decisions, and concerned at the lack of truly affordable homes for locals. I understand the Government have a house building target, but the housing crisis in South Devon is exacerbated by the spread of second homes and holiday lets, removing even former council homes from the market and leading to a shortage in rental properties. However, we do not know the true extent of the issue without the short-term let registration scheme. When will the Department introduce the register, so that we can control short-term holiday lets in our rural and coastal towns?

My Department is not responsible for the national registration scheme for short-term lets. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is responsible for that and is committed to implementing it as soon as possible. When it is implemented, the scheme will capture any property used as short-term rental accommodation, importantly including second homes that operate as short-term lets.