Council discusses holiday let controls in city

Councillors have discussed bringing in planning controls and closing tax loopholes to tackle the effects of holiday lets in Brighton and Hove.

Green councillor Ollie Sykes said short-term lets affected housing availability in the city.

"Basically, there is nowhere to rent in Brighton and Hove any more. It's... absolutely crazy," he told Brighton & Hove City Council (BHCC).

"I'm all for compliant, regulated short-term lets... but also clear that they should be controlled by planning due to the impact on housing."

BHCC had the discussion as part of its preparations to respond to the government's plans to introduce new regulations for short-term holiday lets.

Councillors said they plan to lobby Westminster for legal changes to restrict the uncontrolled spread of short-term holiday lets.

It is unclear how many homes in Brighton and Hove are used as short-term lets, but the figure is believed to be between 2,000 and 6,000, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Rachael Maskell, a Labour MP who is working on a short-term lets private members' bill, has estimated there was about £6bn in undeclared tax from the short-term lets sector.

Councillors unanimously backed taking a deeper look at the issue of short-term holiday lets in July 2024.

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