North Devon council begins six week consultation on rules to stop rented ‘multi occupancy’ homes from being turned into AirBnBs
- North Devon council is planning ban HMOs from being let out as holiday homes
- The plans are aimed at tackling the scenic county’s worsening housing crisis
North Devon Council has launched a crackdown on residential properties being used as AirBnB’s and holiday homes, in a bid to tackle the county’s housing crisis.
The local council is planning to introduce new rules that block houses of multiple occupancy (HMOs) from being rented out as holiday lets, and has now started a six-week consultation on the plans.
The Liberal Democrat-controlled council’s plans are aimed at tackling North Devon’s housing crisis, that has been made worse by landlords converting residential properties into holiday homes.
HMOs are properties that are licensed by local councils to be rented out by five or more individuals who are not from the same household.
The Devon local authority is focusing on HMOs due to having greater control over licensing of the rental properties, which are often occupied by students and low-income workers.
North Devon Council has launched a crackdown on residential properties being let out as AirBnBs in a bid to tackle the county’s housing crisis
READ MORE: Britain’s seaside Airbnb hotspots: A QUARTER of homes in Croyde and one in five in St Ives are now listed for rent on holiday website after sharp rise – amid fears coastal resorts will become ‘theme parks for the wealthy’
North Devon currently has an estimated 1,100 HMOs and 1,867 business registered as having holiday units, according to the North Devon Gazette.
Councilors fear Devon’s housing crisis has been made worse by landlords seeking to cash in on rich staycationers by turning their properties into more-profitable short-term holiday lets and AirBnBs.
More than a quarter of all properties in the North Devon villages of Croyde, Woolacombe, and Georgeham were listed as holiday lets in 2022 – up from one in six in 2019.
Devon councilors also raised concerns the rise of holiday lets in the regions towns and villages has decimated communities, as locals are forced to leave.
Paul Crabb, leader of the Conservative councilors in North Devon, told The Telegraph: ‘Straight away your post office becomes unviable, your pub struggles in the winter, the community’s gone.’
The Tory councilor warned holiday lets have become ‘so profitable’ that locals were finding it ‘impossible to find’ properties to rent themselves.
More than a quarter of all properties in Croyde, North Devon, (pictured) were listed as holiday lets in 2022
Graham Bell, a Liberal Democrat councillor in North Devon, said the rise of holiday homes is now even hurting the county’s tourism industry, as people who work in the sector are unable to find homes themselves.
He explained that while landlords are ‘making a high amount of profit’ by converting their properties into short-term lets they are ‘disabling the existing holiday industry,’ according to The Telegraph.
However, at a committee meeting, the councilor also warned that landlords may pull out of the HMO scheme altogether, and instead convert their properties into full-time holiday homes.
‘Once the landlords of the HMOs start talking to each other, they are very likely to pull out and just use their properties for holiday lets,’ Mr Bell said according to the North Devon Gazette.
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