Yahoo Finance Airbnb to fight Michael Gove’s holiday let crackdown branded 'communist' by critics
Airbnb is preparing to fight Michael Gove’s holiday let crackdown, amid a mounting backlash that has seen the Housing Secretary today branded a “communist”.
Senior leaders at the US tech giant will pressure Mr Gove to water down his proposals, warning of “unintended consequences” from the Government's controversial reforms.
It came as Tory donor Crispin Odey branded the Housing Secretary’s second home interventions “communist”.
The hedge fund manager, who is a critic of Rishi Sunak’s wider economic policies, told the Telegraph: “We are miles away from having a country that can work, that is open for business.
“Gove might as well be a communist. Michael has basically swallowed the pills.”
Mr Gove has proposed forcing second homeowners to seek planning permission before renting out their properties as holiday lets. Local authorities would then be in charge of overseeing the registers and granting planning permission.
Theo Lomas, Airbnb public policy chief, said that Mr Gove’s proposals “aren't that dissimilar to the approach Wales has taken” under Labour first minister Mark Drakeford.
He warned that current proposals could unfairly punish part-time landlords who rent rooms or their homes for only a few weeks a year by treating all rentals as the same.
Mr Lomas said: “We have a concern that you get into a situation where local authorities will be making interventions… and you end up with unintended consequences.
“You may have communities where there's a large number of people who are renting out their home for a couple of weeks a year. And there is a danger that those properties would be counted as a dedicated holiday home.”
Airbnb is expected to finalise its views in an official response to the Government consultations in the coming days in the hope that it can force Mr Gove to backtrack on the more draconian elements of his plans.
It comes amid a growing backlash to the Housing Secretary’s approach to the property sector, including criticism from his own Conservative backbenchers.
Middlesbrough South MP, Simon Clarke, Mr Gove’s predecessor as housing secretary under Liz Truss, has labelled the holiday let crackdown “anti-business”.
Meanwhile, fears are growing that the lack of coherent housing policy ahead of the next general election could have disastrous consequences for the Conservative party at the ballot box.
Mr Gove has justified his crackdown on the holiday home industry by specifically calling out Airbnb.
The Housing Secretary said the spread of holiday homes was turning coastal towns into an “almost permanent Airbnb setting” during an interview with The Telegraph last month.
Defending proposals that will heap extra red tape on second-home owners, the Housing Secretary insisted that “the issue there is a simple one of fairness”.
He said: “We're not saying that people shouldn't be able, when they themselves are on holiday or away for business, to let out their home through Airbnb. Of course they can.
“But there is a phenomenon, and it does occur in coastal areas, and in some of our most attractive tourist areas, where you will have institutions buying up properties, and then having them in almost permanent Airbnb setting.”
Airbnb is expected to propose data sharing between private sector booking platforms on how often properties are let, which would allow councils to sort between full-time rental properties and part-time holiday lets. It comes amid concerns that local councils will take a blanket approach that will see small-time landlords unfairly denied planning permission.
Mr Lomas said the company was not against regulation but said there needed to be a “balance between protecting housing and supporting families who rent their space.”
Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality, has backed Mr Gove’s proposals. She said the reforms were about creating a “level playing field for operators”, whether hotels or Airbnb lets.
Forcing second home owners to apply for planning permission will allow “visibility and clarity about where short-term lets are being used for holiday accommodation”, Ms Nicholls added.
