Short Lets: The Rules Are Tightening
Different licensing, different tax treatment, and in several cities a planning question that did not exist five years ago.
Not simply a shorter tenancy
A short let is a different legal animal from an assured shorthold tenancy, not a compressed version of one. Occupancy is usually a licence rather than a tenancy, which changes notice, deposit treatment and the landlord's obligations.
It also changes the insurance position. A standard landlord policy generally does not cover holiday or short-stay letting, and discovering that after a claim is an expensive way to learn it.
The planning question
Several authorities now treat sustained short letting of a residential property as a material change of use requiring permission, and enforcement has become considerably more active. The detail varies by council, which is precisely what makes it a trap for owners applying a rule they read about another city.
Whether the numbers work
Gross yield on short lets looks excellent and net yield frequently does not. Cleaning between stays, platform commission, higher wear, void nights and the management time all come off the top, and the management time is the one people leave out of the spreadsheet.
The format works best where occupancy is genuinely high year-round. In a seasonal market, a long let at a lower headline rate often beats it once the empty months are counted.
