Agenda item

Council Notes:

 

Advertising a room on Air BnB and other similar platforms started off as a practical way to generate occasional income for a few, renting out a spare room or a whole dwelling for a few weeks of the year whilst on holiday, but the practice has grown hugely since the site was founded and is now enormously commercialised;

 

This has had the effect of taking out privately owned and rented property from the market for long term living, and putting it in the market for short term and holiday lets and other temporary use;

 

Currently, there are few or no proactive controls available to the Local Planning Authority or council to oversee such changes of use, particularly in smaller properties, and therefore no means by which neighbours can put forward their views on such changes, or where additional comings and goings from servicing of such properties can be properly assessed.

 

Uncontrolled changes of residential property to continuous short term lets have the effect of:

 

- Squeezing the housing market for people who want to live close to where they work;

- In particular, driving out young people at the lower end of the price range who want

to live where they were brought up and raise children and thus reducing the long

term sustainability of communities;

-in some cases enabling a source of neighbourhood nuisance by virtue of the use of inappropriate buildings or locations;

- Turning Cambridge into a town with unsuitable or substandard accommodation for visitors to Cambridge;

 

 Therefore, this council:

 

1. Calls on central government urgently to put in place regulation to enable local councils to control the practice of short term lets, as consulted on in the recent “Introduction of a Use Class for Short Term Lets and associated permitted development rights” (12 April 2023) and requests the Chief Executive to write to the Housing Minister to express this council’s support for this.

 

2.  Calls on the Executive Councillor for Planning, Building Control & Infrastructure to work across the council to shape the emerging Local Plan to address these concerns, exploring the use of all the powers which are at our disposal now and in the future to improve the situation, such as:

 

-How best the Local Planning Authority could use current or future legislation to require a change of use permission to be obtained for any dwellings used as short terms lets on a permanent basis;

 

-Clarifying how many days a year a property could be let before reaching the definition of permanent (for example, 90 days per annum, as used in London);

 

-Applying minimum space and safety standards for short term lettings similar to those in use for existing HMOs (Houses of Multiple Occupation);

 

-Ensuring that impact on the long term sustainability of a neighbourhood is considered as part of any change of use application to a short term let;

 

-Ensuring that the comings and goings and associated deliveries and servicing of short term rented dwellings are considered as part of this change of use application to a short term let;

 

-Including a presumption that ancillary dwellings approved as such should not later be converted to short term lets;

 

-Considering whether it would be reasonable to include a condition for new build dwellings to require change of use permission for short term lets until national policy on this is clarified.

Councillor Young proposed and Councillor Porrer seconded the following motion: 

 

Council Notes:

 

Advertising a room on Air BnB and other similar platforms started off as a practical way to generate occasional income for a few, renting out a spare room or a whole dwelling for a few weeks of the year whilst on holiday, but the practice has grown hugely since the site was founded and is now enormously commercialised;

 

This has had the effect of taking out privately owned and rented property from the market for long term living, and putting it in the market for short term and holiday lets and other temporary use;

 

Currently, there are few or no proactive controls available to the Local Planning Authority or council to oversee such changes of use, particularly in smaller properties, and therefore no means by which neighbours can put forward their views on such changes, or where additional comings and goings from servicing of such properties can be properly assessed.

 

Uncontrolled changes of residential property to continuous short term lets have the effect of:

 

- Squeezing the housing market for people who want to live close to where they work;

- In particular, driving out young people at the lower end of the price range who want to live where they were brought up and raise children and thus reducing the long term sustainability of communities;

- In some cases enabling a source of neighbourhood nuisance by virtue of the use of inappropriate buildings or locations;

- Turning Cambridge into a town with unsuitable or substandard accommodation for visitors to Cambridge;

 

Therefore, this council:

 

1. Calls on central government urgently to put in place regulation to enable local councils to control the practice of short term lets, as consulted on in the recent “Introduction of a Use Class for Short Term Lets and associated permitted development rights” (12 April 2023) and requests the Chief Executive to write to the Housing Minister to express this council’s support for this.

 

2.  Calls on the Executive Councillor for Planning & Infrastructure to work across the council to shape the emerging Local Plan to address these concerns, exploring the use of all the powers which are at our disposal now and in the future to improve the situation, such as:

 

·       How best the Local Planning Authority could use current or future legislation to require a change of use permission to be obtained for any dwellings used as short terms lets on a permanent basis;

·       Clarifying how many days a year a property could be let before reaching the definition of permanent (for example, 90 days per annum, as used in London);

·       Applying minimum space and safety standards for short term lettings similar to those in use for existing HMOs (Houses of Multiple Occupation);

·       Ensuring that impact on the long term sustainability of a neighbourhood is considered as part of any change of use application to a short term let;

·       Ensuring that the comings and goings and associated deliveries and servicing of short term rented dwellings are considered as part of this change of use application to a short term let;

·       Including a presumption that ancillary dwellings approved as such should not later be converted to short term lets;

·       Considering whether it would be reasonable to include a condition for new build dwellings to require change of use permission for short term lets until national policy on this is clarified.

 

Councillor Thornburrow proposed and Councillor Nestor seconded the following amendment to the Short Term Letting in Cambridge motion. (Deleted text struckthrough, additional text underlined.)

 

Council Notes:

 

This Council notes that letting Advertising a room on Air BnB and other similar platforms started off as a practical way to generate occasional income for a few, renting out a spare room or a whole dwelling for a few weeks of the year whilst on holiday, but the practice has grown hugely since the site was founded and is now widespread enormously commercialised;

 

This Council further notes that this has had the effect of taking out privately owned and rented property from the market for long term living, and putting it in the market for short term and holiday lets and other temporary use; short-term lets through Airbnb may adversely affect the housing market, reduce the sustainability of communities, be the source of neighbourhood nuisance, and lead to substandard accommodation being offered to visitors;

 

Council acknowledges that it could address issues around short term lets under planning law if change of use was required but national planning policy and legislation currently do not identify these lets as a separate use class and so establishing change of use is complex and subject to appeal. However, in January 2019 Cambridge was the first local authority, outside of London, to successfully defend an appeal against planning enforcement after it was issued in December 2017.

 

Council therefore resolves to:

 

Mandate its representatives working on the development of the Greater Cambridge Local Plan to take this issue into account and explore what additional controls may be feasible under existing powers and legislation.

 

Ask the Leader or Chief Executive to write to local Members of Parliament drawing their attention to this resolution and asking them to support measures to bring forward greater control on the market for short-term letting through the implementation of the measures proposed in the April 2023 consultation Introduction of a use class for short term lets and associated permitted development rights - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

 

Continue to update the planning committee on compliance work with regard to the enforcement of short term lets at regular intervals.

 

Currently, there are few or no proactive controls available to the Local Planning Authority or council to oversee such changes of use, particularly in smaller properties, and therefore no means by which neighbours can put forward their views on such changes, or where additional comings and goings from servicing of such properties can be properly assessed.

 

Uncontrolled changes of residential property to continuous short term lets have the effect of:

 

- Squeezing the housing market for people who want to live close to where they work;

- In particular, driving out young people at the lower end of the price range who want

to live where they were brought up and raise children and thus reducing the long

term sustainability of communities;

-in some cases enabling a source of neighbourhood nuisance by virtue of the use of inappropriate buildings or locations;

- Turning Cambridge into a town with unsuitable or substandard accommodation for visitors to Cambridge;

 

 Therefore, this council:

 

1. Calls on central government urgently to put in place regulation to enable local councils to control the practice of short term lets, as consulted on in the recent “Introduction of a Use Class for Short Term Lets and associated permitted development rights” (12 April 2023) and requests the Chief Executive to write to the Housing Minister to express this council’s support for this.

 

2.  Calls on the Executive Councillor for Planning & Infrastructure to work across the council to shape the emerging Local Plan to address these concerns, exploring the use of all the powers which are at our disposal now and in the future to improve the situation, such as:

 

-How best the Local Planning Authority could use current or future legislation to require a change of use permission to be obtained for any dwellings used as short terms lets on a permanent basis;

 

-Clarifying how many days a year a property could be let before reaching the definition of permanent (for example, 90 days per annum, as used in London);

 

-Applying minimum space and safety standards for short term lettings similar to those in use for existing HMOs (Houses of Multiple Occupation);

 

-Ensuring that impact on the long term sustainability of a neighbourhood is considered as part of any change of use application to a short term let;

 

-Ensuring that the comings and goings and associated deliveries and servicing of short term rented dwellings are considered as part of this change of use application to a short term let;

 

-Including a presumption that ancillary dwellings approved as such should not later be converted to short term lets;

 

-Considering whether it would be reasonable to include a condition for new build dwellings to require change of use permission for short term lets until national policy on this is clarified.

 

The amendment was carried by 21 votes to 14.

 

Resolved (by 35 votes to 0) that:

 

Council Notes:

 

This Council notes that letting a room on Air BnB and other similar platforms started off as a practical way to generate occasional income for a few, renting out a spare room or a whole dwelling for a few weeks of the year whilst on holiday, but the practice has grown hugely since the site was founded and is now widespread;

 

This Council further notes that this has had the effect of taking out privately owned and rented property from the market for long term living, and putting it in the market for short term and holiday lets and other temporary use; short-term lets through Airbnb may adversely affect the housing market, reduce the sustainability of communities, be the source of neighbourhood nuisance, and lead to substandard accommodation being offered to visitors;

 

Council acknowledges that it could address issues around short term lets under planning law if change of use was required but national planning policy and legislation currently do not identify these lets as a separate use class and so establishing change of use is complex and subject to appeal. However, in January 2019 Cambridge was the first local authority, outside of London, to successfully defend an appeal against planning enforcement after it was issued in December 2017.

 

Council therefore resolves to:

 

Mandate its representatives working on the development of the Greater Cambridge Local Plan to take this issue into account and explore what additional controls may be feasible under existing powers and legislation.

 

Ask the Leader or Chief Executive to write to local Members of Parliament drawing their attention to this resolution and asking them to support measures to bring forward greater control on the market for short-term letting through the implementation of the measures proposed in the April 2023 consultation Introduction of a use class for short term lets and associated permitted development rights - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

 

Continue to update the planning committee on compliance work with regard to the enforcement of short term lets at regular intervals.