Nickie Aiken, Member of Parliament for the Cities of London & Westminster, is leading calls for a registration scheme for short-term lets.
Short-term lets are where homeowners rent a property or room on a nightly basis or over one or two days. Whilst many landlords are responsible, Nickie is well aware of the misery that rogue short-let operators can cause for local people across the Cities of London & Westminster.
For too long, local people across the Cities of London & Westminster have put up with rogue landlords who ignore the 90 nights rule, and create unwanted disturbances all times, day and night. Letting out your home for up to 90 nights is lawful but too many landlords ignore the law and cause havoc for their neighbours. Nickie believes they must be held to account and a registration scheme will help the authorities know which properties are being used unlawfully and take the necessary action.
Presenting her petition to Downing Street, Nickie was joined by the Leader of Westminster City Council, Cllr Rachael Robathan, and Cllr Heather Acton, as well as local community activists Laila Dupuy, Zaheed Nizar and Julie Redmond.
At Downing Street, Nickie commented,
"We've just been to Number Ten Downing Street to hand in the parliamentary petition calling for a registration scheme for short-term letting.
"It's so important that properties in Westminster that are used for short-term letting are registered, so the councillors know and the council know which properties are being Airbnb'd.
"Because we know the issues of antisocial behaviour, noise and rubbish are left by people using these properties. So I am working with Westminster City Councillors to ensure that we end this practice."
If you missed the chance to back Nickie's petition to Parliament, there's still time to have your voice heard. Back Nickie's online petition here.
