Penrith and Solway MP Markus Campbell‑Savours has called for a full licensing scheme with enforceable local caps to tackle the surge in short‑term and holiday lets that is hollowing out communities across the country.
He warned that the planned registration‑only scheme introduced by the previous Government and currently being prepared by new administration "will count the problem, not fix it," and risks leaving high‑pressure areas with no meaningful tools to protect local housing stock.
Markus Campbell-Savours said:
"In the Lake District and other tourism hotspots, we don't need another spreadsheet. We need the power to say: enough. A licensing scheme with local caps is the only way to stop whole communities being turned into holiday parks."
He also argued that planning‑use‑class changes proposed by some politicians, could "lock in" thousands of existing holiday lets permanently, removing any ability to adjust numbers as conditions change.
"A licensing system gives councils real authority and real funding," he added. "Annual licence fees pay for enforcement. Caps protect housing. And local people finally get a fighting chance to live in the places they serve."
Markus Campbell‑Savours urged Ministers to ensure that forthcoming reforms "deliver real control, not just data."
The Early Day Motion Short-term holiday let licensing with caps was published in Parliament today and reads:
That this House notes the accelerating spread of short-term holiday lets in many communities, and the mounting pressure this places on local housing supply; further notes that a registration scheme, while useful for data collection, offers no mechanism to prevent further loss of homes in areas already saturated; observes that communities facing hundreds or thousands of existing holiday lets do not need a list, they need limits; believes that relying solely on planning-use-class changes risks granting long-term consent to properties already converted, removing any ability to adjust numbers as local conditions change; further believes that a statutory licensing scheme, backed by enforceable local caps and annual fees, would give councils the practical tools and sustainable funding required to protect housing stock and maintain balanced communities; and calls on the Government to ensure that forthcoming reforms provide real powers, not just information, so that local people are not priced out of the places they live and work.
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