Short-term holiday lets could face regulations

Green councillor Ellen McLeay said families were being "priced out" of the city centre

Short-term holiday lets in Brighton and Hove could face regulations and restrictions after councillors unanimously backed taking a deeper look at the “saturation” of Airbnbs.

At a meeting of Brighton & Hove City Council on Thursday, Green councillor Ellen McLeay asked that officials prepare a report aimed at giving the council more power to deal with the issue.

Ms McLeay said families were being "priced out" of the city centre and short-term lets were creating "ghost neighbourhoods".

An Airbnb spokesperson said its guests "accounted for a very low proportion of total visitors to Brighton & Hove last year" and contributed "tens of millions to the local economy".

The spokesperson added that "housing supply and affordability challenges are primarily driven by a lack of new homes being built".

Ms McLeay cited a University College London study which found that areas of the capital with the most Airbnb listings tended to have higher weekly rents and a lack of affordable housing, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Holiday rental sites Airbnb and Vrbo currently list 4,500 Brighton and Hove properties, she said.

Ms McLeay added: “[Families] are priced out and therefore there are fewer kids living in the area – another factor contributing to class number decline for our inner-city schools.”

One of those schools, St Bartholomew’s Primary School, is due to close later this year because of falling numbers.

'Anti-social behaviour'

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

She also asked for a change to national planning policy to allow councils to control the number of licences in areas under pressure.

Ms Williams said: “We do fully appreciate the tourism industry contributes a lot to the economy of our city."

Conservative councillor Anne Meadows said too many holiday lets were linked to noise nuisance and anti-social behaviour.

She said: “To have a register of those properties would be appropriate so we know where the majority are, although I suspect we already know that from the complaints."

The Airbnb spokesperson added: "We have zero tolerance for bad behaviour, parties are banned on our platform, and we may remove users who violate our strict policies.

"Our 24/7 Neighbour Support line enables anyone concerned about a listing to contact us at any time.”

Vrbo has been approached for comment.