Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing a licensing regime for short-term lets.

While recognising the benefits that short-term lets can have for local economies, the Government appreciates that excessive concentrations in some areas of the country can impact on the availability and affordability of homes to buy and rent as well as having a detrimental impact on local services.

The Government is committed to the introduction of a short-term let registration scheme and to abolishing the furnished holiday lets tax regime to remove the tax incentive that short-term let owners have over long-term landlords. In addition, we are considering what additional powers we might give local authorities to enable them to better manage excessive concentrations of such properties.