Landlords will have to sign up to a mandatory short-lets registration scheme in England from next March.

Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Secretary Lisa Nandy confirmed the date and said PM Andy Burnham had asked her to "accelerate" plans in his first week in the job.

In answer to a Parliamentary question, Nandy said the government was committed to implementing short lets regulation. “We believe in our communities and in their right to shape their own areas," she told MPs. "This regulation is about putting power back into people’s hands so that they can shape the right balance between the benefits that tourism brings and the needs of people locally for decent housing.”

Owners of short-term lets will have to register and provide information on their accommodation and themselves, pay a registration fee, and then receive a registration number which must be used when advertising or letting accommodation. Local councils would then gain access to data on short-term lets to help assess housing impacts and manage local services more effectively, as well as investigate non-compliant accommodation.

Abuse

Labour MP Joe Powell said the abuse of short-term lets in his community had continued over the summer, with breaches of lease, anti-social behaviour, subletting of private rented properties and social housing, and even short-term lets hosting brothels. He said: “We still do not have a way of identifying where these lets are so that enforcement action can be taken, nor do we have a way of implementing London’s 90-day cap on lets.”

Nandy promised to work with local councils to find solutions as she agreed that short-term lets had been "springing up" to get around the ban, which was causing havoc in local communities.

Understand

“We believe that local leaders need to be able to understand what is happening in their local areas and to shape that in order to have the benefits of tourism,” she added. “Some areas may want to have more short-term lets available to support the tourism industry, but there are other areas…where there is a real need for local housing for local people, and local leaders should have the power to provide that.”

Scotland already has a national licensing scheme for short-term lets, while in Wales, anyone taking bookings for overnight visitor accommodation will have to start registering with the Welsh Revenue Authority from next month.

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