Oxford City Council's clampdown on short lets waste pick-ups

The number of properties being used for short lets meant "whole communities are losing their hearts", the council leader said

Homeowners who rent out properties as self-catering and holiday lets will pay for their own rubbish collections as part of a council clampdown.

Oxford City Council has repeatedly called for more regulation of short lets, with many advertised online, most commonly on Airbnb.

Its leader said about 1,400 properties being used for short lets meant "whole communities are losing their hearts".

A government consultation into short lets ends on Wednesday.

A property available for short periods for 140 days or more a year should be rated as self-catering and holiday let accommodation and valued for business rates.

They should not pay council tax and receive council services, including rubbish collection.

'Such a shortage'

A total of 104 properties in Oxford have been valued for business rates but the council said its planning enforcement team will "prioritise investigations" to find more.

Hundreds of other homes are sitting empty across the city, despite thousands of people being included on its housing register.

"The purpose of this, as well as fairness both to businesses and to residents in terms of charging, is ultimately is that we want to bring back [the properties] into regular letting or them to be available for family homes," the council's leader Susan Brown said.

"We have such a shortage of housing in the city it's really quite criminal that we are losing quite so many to gains for their owners but unfortunately not for the city as a whole."

Other local authorities, including Scarborough, Isle of Wight, Dorset and Hampshire, do not collect waste from self-catering and holiday let accommodations registered as businesses.