Dec

Holiday lets to face national registration scheme soon, Bill amendment shows

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Short-term holiday properties will soon face a compulsory national registration scheme after and amendment has been to the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill going through parliament.

Such a move has been in the offing for several months and follows an initial consultation on establishing a tourism accommodation register by the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), the outcome of which in June indicated Ministers were keen on ‘considering’ such a scheme.

The UK Short Term Accommodation Association (STAA), the trade association representing the thousands of owners and businesses operating in this sharing economy sector, says it met with DCMS minister Stuart Andrew MP (pictured) a few days ago ahead of the policy announcement to discuss the finer points of the likely legislation after “months of work between the STAA and the Government”.

The trade body has been advocating for a national registration scheme to collect data on holiday rentals to support accurate reporting and policy decisions, and the Government is also considering linking holiday lets to the planning system, as they are in London.

It says that in order to be successful the scheme should be simple for owners to register with, straightforward for authorities to administer and low cost to run.

Tiny proportion

Andy Fenner, CEO of the STAA, says: “Holiday lets represent a tiny proportion of the total housing market yet provide vital flexible jobs and investment in our communities.

“The STAA wants the highest standards across our industry and clear, easy-to-use registration helps us achieve that.
“We have worked closely with the Government’s tourism officials to help develop this registration scheme and are very pleased that it has been announced.”

STAA Chair, Merilee Karr (pictured) says: “Any new regulatory solution should recognise our industry as an important part of the wider UK tourism proposition, which means we need a solution that gets the balance right.”

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