Cllr Michael Pavlovic said he recognised that “the tourism sector brings a great deal of money into the city” but said there had been “massive growth”
- of short-term holiday lets over the past five to six years in York, amid a housing shortage in the city.
The Labour executive member for housing, speaking to The Press, called on the government to grant local authorities the power to refuse applications for properties being changed into short-term holiday lets.
Lets are currently subject to some planning, business and housing rules but councils cannot limit the overall amount of them or block them in certain areas.
Work on granting local authorities more control of short-term lets by making them subject to the planning process, first announced by the previous Conservative government, remains ongoing.
Cllr Pavlovic said there are around 2,500 holiday lets in York, the majority in the city centre.
“I can understand that for landlords in a city like York, which has nine million visitors a year, there is going to be a demand [for holiday lets],” he said.
“But we also have a responsibility for people in York who are being priced out of the market.”
Cllr Pavlovic added that the current process by which local authorities can challenge short-term holiday lets is “long, convoluted and expensive”.
He said the new government proposals “may give us the opportunity to limit the numbers” of short-term holiday lets but “the devil will be in the detail”.
Recommended reading:
- 'The best chance we’re going to have': new strategy to end rough sleeping in York
- Holiday lets 'hollowing out' York communities - petition signed by almost 800
- 'We want to work with York communities - not against them' says holiday lets boss
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THREE East Coast Main Line train operators have been granted permission to run additional services from December, including routes passing through York.
