YORK Central MP Rachael Maskell introduces a private member’s bill in parliament on Friday calling for tougher regulation of short-term vacation rentals such as Airbnb.
She says she is “concerned about villages carved out by vacation rental investors and second home owners, and urban streets that are now party streets.”
In an exclusive column in today’s Pressthe MP writes: “In York, over 2,000 properties have now been foreclosed by investors, depriving first-time buyers of any chance of climbing the housing ladder.
“Worse still, those living in the private rental sector are being evicted from their homes to make way for groups of boys and girls to party in the once quiet streets of York. Owners sit back and watch their profits soar, with some raking in over £2,000 a weekend.
Whether you can’t rent or buy because real estate costs rise as demand outstrips supply, whether you have an out-of-town son or daughter, or live next door to a ‘party house’ airbnb’, many people in York are affected by this unlicensed and unregulated trade.
The MP says businesses cannot recruit staff and the NHS and care sectors are suffering as there is nowhere for staff to live.
“This exploitation of housing for personal gain takes homes away from those who desperately need them,” she said.
The MP says that at present, unlike bed and breakfasts or hotels, short-term vacation rentals are unregulated.
“They don’t need security certificates, energy efficiency measures and landlords don’t pay council tax because they get small business rate relief.”
She says her bill calls for “short-term rental” properties to be allowed and fully regulated.
If it becomes law, his bill would also allow local authorities to set up control zones to limit the expansion of holiday rentals where housing is under pressure. ‘It would also give councils new powers to shut down short-term rentals that cause repeated nuisance to local residents,’ she said.
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