London borough cracks down on short-term lets via Airbnb

Renting out a property via Airbnb has become a useful source of income for tens of thousands of landlords in London, and several agents including Portico have branched out to service this new short term lets management market. But one London borough is striking back after experiencing a deluge of Airbnb listings by its leaseholders and tenants. Southwark has revealed that it saw a 139% increase in the number of homes rented via Airbnb since the Deregulation Act 2015 loosened the rules for short-term lets of up to 90 days. Before the new regulations were introduced, leaseholders in London had to seek planning permission before being able to rent their properties out via home ‘sharing’ websites such as Airbnb. Now, Southwark says it is to clamp down on its leaseholders and tenants who advertise their properties on Airbnb. Beach of conditions Leaflets are being sent to both groups to remind them that “renting out their homes on any short-term holiday let website breaches the conditions of their lease and could result in legal action”, it says. People who have purcahsed properties from Southwark via Right to Buy are being reminded that their leaseholds stipulate that their homes should not be “used…