Rental homes must be ‘reserved for locals’ in Airbnb hotspots, says Tory MP

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A Conservative MP has called for tenants to be offered affordable homes in tourist hot spots if they can prove they’re local.

During a Commons debate on short-term holiday lets, East Devon MP Simon Jupp (pictured) suggested that councils could be allowed to reserve a percentage of new builds for people with a local family or economic connection to an area.

The tenant or buyer would have to prove one of the following conditions: that they currently live or work within 25 miles of the property, they were born within 25 miles of the property, or could demonstrate a care network within 25 miles of the property.

A covenant would permanently protect a percentage of any new housing stock from short-term let or second home ownership.

Local first

“We undoubtedly need to build new homes in East Devon, but we should aim to look after locals first,” said Jupp. “The government can be creative and proactive in looking at all possible options – only then will there be a better balance.”

Fellow Tory MP Kevin Foster, who brought the debate, said the government should create a planning system that let local communities strike the right balance between providing accommodation options for tourists and ensuring a supply of housing for locals, which was vital in providing the staff and services to support tourism.

An amendment to the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill would introduce a registration scheme for short-term lets and a consultation into how this would work closes on 7^th June.

There are also plans to restrict the ways in which homes can be flipped into short-term lets by bringing in new permitted development rights so that councils could limit their use in geographical areas with the highest number of short-term lets.

Watch his speech.

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