Giulio Ferrini who is running as a Green candidate on May 7 in the Clerkenwell ward

RESIDENTS are calling for stricter enforcement on short-term lets, after they have found hundreds of homes in Clerkenwell are being rented out on sites like Airbnb.

A group of neighbours have been compiling a list of nearby properties that are effectively being used as hotels while the housing crisis grows, and say the council have done nothing to clamp down on the “large-scale business landlords” making thousands of pounds from holiday lets.

The properties range from studios to four-bedroom homes and can cost up to £1,000 for a single-night stay.

Many of the flats are managed by professional hosts or letting agencies, rather than by people who are simply looking to rent out their home while they themselves are away for a few weeks or months.

“It’s a housing supply issue”, explained Giulio Ferrini. “Clerkenwell has 6,000 homes, and we found 150 being used as short-term lets year-round. Those are homes that are not being used to house local people, and that could be entered back into the market. It’s this short supply that is driving up rents and pushing people out of the area, especially key workers.”

Currently, you can let out your home for 90 days within a 12-month period without a licence, but a change in planning permission is required if you plan to rent it out for longer.

However, campaigners have found that it is easy to bypass the inbuilt cap on Airbnb by simultaneously listing the property across multiple letting platforms.

They also say that a lack of enforcement by the Town Hall means that many people breach the 90-day policy without consequence.

Sara Mulatu, who collated and mapped the data, said: “I think we should hold the council accountable to regulate housing more. If there are lots of short-term rentals, it means that there’s less houses to rent and they’re more expensive”.

In a Freedom of Information request seen by the Tribune, Islington Council says it has not issued a single fine since the legislation came into force in 2017, despite having received 176 reports for investigation.

“A significant number of these may have been investigated and found not to have been in breach”, the FoI response stated. “Some may also have been a breach but then ceased following warning without the need for formal action.”

Mr Ferrini, who is running as a Green candidate in the ward in the May 7 elections, called for the Town Hall to put “more pressure” on the issue, making an example of those who are breaching the planning conditions.

He told the Tribune: “Getting all the way to enforcement is challenging, but we spent just a couple days and came up with an initial list of businesses you could send a letter to saying we are ramping up monitoring and enforcement. There are a small number of agencies managing lots and lots of listings.”

He added: “The council could be returning these homes into long-term rentals, but this clearly hasn’t been a focus.

“They need a couple of landmark cases to scare the market, and make it clear that they will clamp down.”

Labour councillor Santiago Bell-Bradford, who heads up the Town Hall’s housing team, said: “We recognise how important this is to residents, especially during a housing crisis, which is exactly why Islington Labour’s manifesto commits to clamping down on illegal sub-letting and tenancy fraud, enforcing against homes being used unlawfully as short-term lets, and charging the maximum council tax on second and empty homes.”

He added: “Since the 90-day rule was introduced, the council has investigated hundreds of cases and intervened wherever breaches have been identified, as well as doubling the size of our housing fraud team to strengthen proactive enforcement.

“Claims that we are ‘doing nothing’ are simply wrong.

“What is holding councils back is a lack of powers and data from short-let platforms,
which is why we are pressing government for tougher rules, so homes are used for local people, not permanent holiday lets.”

Airbnb were invited to comment.