Hundreds 'being kicked out of rental properties so landlords can put them on Airbnb', claims Tim Farron

Hundreds of families in popular tourist areas are being evicted from rental properties so landlords can put them on Airbnb, former Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron has claimed.
Liberal Democrat MP Tim Farron is concerned about excessive second home ownership in the Yorkshire Dales and Lake DistrictLiberal Democrat MP Tim Farron is concerned about excessive second home ownership in the Yorkshire Dales and Lake District
Liberal Democrat MP Tim Farron is concerned about excessive second home ownership in the Yorkshire Dales and Lake District

Mr Farron told a Westminster Hall debate on second homes and holiday lets that he was aware of the widespread use of Section 21 orders giving tenants two months' notice to leave a property.

The MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale said those evicted were often seeing their former houses listed on Airbnb after they leave.

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“Among the hundreds evicted, I think of the couple with two small children in Ambleside, who struggled to pay £800 a month for their flat above a shop in town; they were evicted last spring only to find the home they had lived in for years on Airbnb for £1,200 a week,” he said.

“I think of the mum near Grange, whose teenage son had lived in their rented home his whole life; they were evicted only to see their property on Airbnb a few days later for over £1,000 a week. I think of the tradesman from Sedbergh, who had served the community for 15 years; a few days after he was evicted, his former home was also on Airbnb for £1,000 a week. There are hundreds more individuals and families in the same situation right across rural Cumbria.”

He added: “The ease with which people can turn a home into a holiday let is part of the problem. The consequences are phenomenal. The people I am speaking about are real human beings. What it means for them is that they have to leave the area.”

Communities 'are being destroyed'

Mr Farron said communities in the Yorkshire Dales and the Lake District are being destroyed by the increase in second home-owners snapping up properties to let to holidaymakers on sites like Airbnb.

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He claimed the housing crisis in rural Britain has become a “catastrophe” during the pandemic.

He said: “In the space of less than two years, a bad situation has become utterly disastrous.”

Mr Farron said: “Even before the pandemic, at least one in seven houses in my constituency was a second home — a bolthole or an investment for people whose main home is somewhere else.

“In many towns and villages, such as Coniston, Hawkshead, Dent, Chapel Stile and Grasmere, the majority of properties are now empty for most of the year. Across the Yorkshire Dales, much of which is in Cumbria and in my constituency, more than a quarter of the housing stock in the national park is not lived in.

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“In Elterwater in Langdale, 85 per cent of the properties are second homes. Without a large enough permanent population, villages just die.

“The school loses numbers and then closes. The bus service loses passengers, so it gets cut. The pub loses its trade, the post office loses customers and the church loses its congregation, so they close too.

“Those who are left behind are isolated and often impoverished in communities whose life has effectively come to an end.”

Mr Farron put forward a seven-point plan to limit the number of second homes and make affordable properties available to more local families. His proposals included making second homes and holiday lets new and separate categories of planning use; forcing all holiday let owners to pay council tax and banning Section 21 no-fault evictions.

Government to consider registration scheme

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In response, housing minister Christopher Pincher said the Government is to consider launching a tourist accommodation registration scheme in England to address the rise of second homes being let out on websites like Airbnb and denying local people the chance to get on the property ladder.

Mr Pincher said: “We do propose to consult on the introduction of a tourist accommodation registration scheme in England so we can build our understanding of the evidence of issues that second homes present, particularly driven by the likes of online platforms such as Airbnb.

"We’ll launch that consultation later this year. We’ll begin the process of a call for evidence in the coming weeks we want to look at not just the issue of short term holiday letting, but also the effect it has on supply.”

Mr Farron said while he welcomed the review in principle, action cannot be delayed any further.

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“I want to say to the minister that inaction is action. It’s action on behalf of those who have multiple homes, against our communities," he said.

“I want to see an awful lot more than we saw today because in the time it takes for this review to take place, those communities I talked about which are at risk of dying will actually be dead.”

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