Title

PLANNING

Short-term lets to need planning permission

The Government has announced new rules to give communities greater control over short-term lets in their areas.

The Government has announced new rules to give communities greater control over short-term lets in their areas.

A consultation by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities proposed introducing a requirement for planning permission to be gained for a home to be used as a short-term let.

It said this would help support local people in areas where high numbers of holiday lets are preventing them from finding affordable housing.

The new proposals come as the Department for Culture, Media & Sport launched a separate consultation on a new registration scheme for short-term lets, aimed at finding out how many there are and where they are located.

Local government secretary Michael Gove said: ‘Tourism brings many benefits to our economy but in too many communities we have seen local people pushed out of cherished towns, cities and villages by huge numbers of short-term lets.

‘I'm determined we ensure more people have access to local homes at affordable prices and that we prioritise families desperate to rent or buy a home of their own close to where they work.'

PLANNING

A system for success

By Heather Jameson | 23 December 2025

Luton Council’s bold 2040 vision prioritises jobs, homes and safety. Heather Jameson talks to chief executive Mark Fowler about taking a systems-based approa...

PLANNING

Regeneration: Tenacity, not tenure: keeping a long-term project on track

By Nick Eveleigh | 23 December 2025

Delivering a new train station in Chelmsford has been a decades-long project. Nick Eveleigh reflects on the long-term nature of delivering what really matter...

PLANNING

Scrooge Says: Bah Humbug to Local Elections

By Colin Copus | 22 December 2025

Labour said nothing about LGR in its manifesto and, as well as moving to create 'huge' new unitaries, ministers have made councils responsible for sticking t...

PLANNING

The only constant, other than change, is our ambition for our place.

By Caroline Green | 22 December 2025

Oxford City Council has been focusing on what it needs to accelerate for the city to be in the best possible position to transition to a unitary future, says...

Popular articles by Mark Whitehead