Short Term Let Control Areas

What is a Short Term Let Control Area?

Powers to designate Short Term Let Control Areas have been introduced to manage high concentrations of secondary lettings by restricting or preventing short term lets that affect the availability of residential housing and the character of the local community. Control areas can also help local authorities ensure that homes are used to best effect in their areas.

A Short-term Let Control Area is not a ban on short-term lets, instead it will allow planning policies to be used by local planning authorities to assess applications which change the use of a dwellinghouse to this form of use and allow communities and individuals the right to make representations through the planning application process.

What is different in a Short Term Let Control Area?

In a Short Term Let Control Area planning permission will always be required for the change of use of a dwellinghouse (which is not the host’s only or principal home) to a Short Term Let in the circumstances defined below: (This is referred to as Secondary Letting).

Accommodation that meets ALL of the following criteria:

  1. sleeping accommodation is provided in the course of business to one or more persons for one or more nights for commercial consideration,
  2. no person to whom sleeping accommodation is provided in the course of business is an immediate family member of the person by whom the accommodation is being provided,
  3. the accommodation is not provided under an excluded tenancy (Control Area),
  4. the accommodation is not provided for the principal purpose of facilitating the provision of work or services to the person by whom the accommodation is being provided or to another member of that person’s household,
  5. the accommodation is not provided by an employer to an employee in terms of a contract of employment or for the better performance of the employee’s duties, and
  6. the accommodation is not excluded accommodation (Control Area)