Camden enforcement action against short-term lets upheld by Planning Inspector
The Planning Inspectorate dismissed an appeal against a planning enforcement notice served by the Council against the unauthorised use of 254-256 and 258 Belsize Road as serviced apartments for short term lets.
The appeal decision supports the vital distinction between permanent homes and short-term let operations. This will help provide valuable guidance to other councils also tackling similar unauthorised uses.
This decision outlines the challenges that local authorities like Camden face in tackling unauthorised short term lets. It sets a clear guide for us and others across London to tackle similar unauthorised short-term letting operations.
This decision should send a strong message to other landlords and building owners. You need to comply with planning rules, or we will take action. At a time when we are experiencing a shortage of suitable affordable housing for our residents in the borough, we are acting to tackle this issue.
On 11 February 2025, the Planning Inspectorate dismissed an appeal against a planning enforcement notice served by the Council on 29 April 2024 for the unauthorised use of 254-256 and 258 Belsize Road as serviced apartments for short term lets.
Despite significant evidence of the apartments having been advertised on Booking.com, Expedia, siyu.co.uk, Londonservicedapartments.co.uk, and the Sanctum website, the appellants argued that the use of accommodation was not short term lets, but C3 residential accommodation not exceeding the 90-day allowance. Prior approval had previously been granted to change the building from office to residential accommodation, and this is the use the appellant claimed to have implemented.
The Inspector agreed with the evidence presented by the council demonstrating that the accommodation was not residential flats in C3 use and found that on the balance of probabilities, the use that has occurred is the sui generis use of the property for serviced apartments for short term lets.
In arriving to this decision, the Inspector noted that there were several features which were not common to residential flats in C3 use and were more consistent with short-term letting. These included hotel-style key cards to operate the doors, lighting and door access. In addition, there were no individual post boxes and no doorbells on the apartment doors or at the entrance to the buildings. Further there were two inter-connecting apartments, which were designed to facilitate independent or joint use, and were found not to be a typical feature of flats and more commonly found in hotels. A large reception and sitting area were also consistent with short-term letting.
The Inspector also stated that “I have not seen any evidence of significant quantities of personal possessions in any of the units at any time”.
The Inspector therefore confirmed that the overall character of the use is distinct from Class C3, with the collective operation of multiple units in the building contributing to this distinction. This decision will assist Camden and other local authorities across London in differentiating between the two uses and addressing the proliferation of large-scale short-term let operations.
We have invested time and effort to address these issues which are contributing to the housing shortage and inflating private rent levels and take formal enforcement action against any unauthorised changes of use from permanent homes to short term lets we identify, but it is difficult to make any real impact on limiting the spread without additional controls.
Councillor Harrison continued:
“In Camden, there are currently approximately 6,000 properties solely being used for short-term letting and London Councils estimate that there are a staggering 43,000 homes in the capital being used for this purpose instead of providing permanent homes.
“The rise of online booking platforms and the growth of the short term let sector has been embraced by many private landlords for whom this now offers a more lucrative option than standard private rentals.
“We do support homeowners being able to rent out their homes for limited times during the year to make additional income, however our experience is that the vast majority of short term lets are provided by professional organisations who rent multiple properties as short term lets all year round.”
The public inquiry was held in November 2024.