Secretary of State for Levelling Up Michael Gove has announced plans to clamp down on short-term lets, to combat the ongoing housing crisis in the UK.

The plans include introducing a new national register that will track the number of short-term lets and how they are distributed. Alongside this, they will also be introducing new planning measures for short-term lets. 

Landlords of short-term lets currently benefit from a wider range of tax incentives than those offering residential lets. This has led to an increase in short-term lets while, at the same time, residential supply has fallen.

Data from the UK's leading flatshare site SpareRoom reveals that the average UK room rent was £806 in January 2024, highlighting the need for the government to introduce urgent reform in the housing sector*. 

Further data from SpareRoom has revealed:

• 94% of renters don't have confidence in the current government's approach to housing**
• 97% of landlords think residential landlords should have the same tax reliefs as short-term let landlords
• 94% think that levelling these tax breaks would encourage more landlords to rent out their properties on a long-term basis***

Matt Hutchinson, SpareRoom Director said: "Clamping down on short-term lets is great, but government has to address why landlords are so keen to offer short-term lets in the first place.

"The current tax system offers landlords of short-term and holiday lets several incentives that residential landlords don't get, which makes no sense whatsoever when we have a housing crisis, not a hotel room crisis.

"At the very least, government needs to level the playing field and stop making short-term lets more attractive than homes."

*Data is based on all ads live in that month (majority of ads include bills)

**Based on a SpareRoom survey conducted in Jan & Feb 2024 with 3,703 renters

***Based on a SpareRoom survey conducted in Feb 2024 with 1,479 landlords & agents