Brighton & Hove: Short-term holiday lets may be subject to regulations

Short-term holiday lets in Brighton and Hove could be subject to regulation and restrictions after councillors unanimously backed a closer look at Airbnb’s “saturation”.

At a meeting of Brighton & Hove City Council on Thursday, Green Party councillor Ellen McLeay asked officials to produce a report that would seek to give the council greater powers to deal with the issue.

Ms McLeay said families were being “pushed out” of the city centre, with short-term rentals creating “ghost towns”.

An Airbnb spokesperson said its guests “made up a very small proportion of all tourists visiting Brighton & Hove last year” and contributed “tens of millions of dollars to the local economy”.

Ms McLeay cited research from University College London, which found that in the capital’s areas with the most Airbnb listings, weekly rents tend to be higher and there are limited affordable homes, according to data from the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

She added that there are currently 4,500 properties listed in Brighton and Hove on the Airbnb and Vrbo websites.

Ms McLeay added: “(Families) can’t afford to go to schools, so there are fewer children living in the area – another factor contributing to the falling class sizes in our city centre schools.”

One of these schools, St Bartholomew’s Primary School, is due to close at the end of the year due to falling pupil numbers.

Labour councillor Gill Williams, cabinet member for housing and new homes, has previously tried to push for the introduction of a voluntary registration scheme.

She also called for a change to national planning policy to allow councils to control the number of licences in areas where there is pressure.

Ms Williams said: “We appreciate that the tourism industry makes a significant contribution to our city’s economy.”

Conservative councillor Anne Meadows said too many holiday let properties were associated with noise nuisance and anti-social behaviour.

She said: “There should be a register of these properties so we know where most of them are, although I suspect we already know that from complaints.”

An Airbnb spokesperson added: “We have zero tolerance for bad behaviour, parties are prohibited on our platform and we may remove users who break our strict rules.

“Our 24/7 Neighbourhood Support Helpline means anyone concerned about a particular advert can contact us at any time.”

Vrbo has been contacted for comment.