Londoners can now rent out their spare rooms using AirBnB, thanks to a change in rules
It is now completely legal for Londoners to let out spare rooms using sites such as AirBnB, thanks to a change in rules.
Until now, you could be slapped with a £20,000 fine for renting part of your home out for fewer than 90 nights without getting planning permission first, but everyone is now free to rent for as few nights as they please.
The 40-year-old rule that dictated this was the Greater London Council Act, which was unique to London. Now, the capital can catch up with the rest of the UK and Europe on the latest travelling trend of renting out rooms in people's homes rather than hotels.
The purpose of the law was to protect London's rental market, but housing minister Brandon Lewis says today's change will free homeowners in the capital of the “bureaucratic headache” stemming from planning permission applications just to rent a home out for a few weeks.
These outdated and needless rules that restricted London homeowners in what they could do with their home have now been swept away.Londoners should be able to use their homes for short term lets without the bureaucratic headache of getting planning permission from the council – just like everywhere else in the country.