THE GOVERNMENT committed to changing planning law in the upcoming Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill to restrict holiday homes and Airbnbs.

Michael Gove, the secretary of state for housing and levelling up responded to a question on the issue by the South Lakes MP Tim Farron.

The issue is particularly prescient in this area as the beauty of the Lake District attracts second home ownership but also requires local workers to run the hospitality trade, who are priced out of the market by outside property investors.

The Mail: Short-term rentals in 'South Lakeland' according to AirDNA Short-term rentals in 'South Lakeland' according to AirDNA (Image: AirDNA)

According to short-term rental data analytics website AirDNA, there are 2,707 active rentals across what it lists as the ‘South Lakeland’ area extending from Ulverston to Broughton, Newby Bridge, and up to Rydal. 88 per cent of these are entire home rentals. The average rental is 2.4 bedroom with 4.8 guests. Around 43 per cent of these are listed on Airbnb and 32 per cent on Vrbo.  

READ MORE: Cumbria Tourism figures paint grim picture for hospitality

Since Q2 2020, there has been a quarterly growth of rentals of around 3 per cent.

Mr Gove said: “Of course we want to have a labour market that works and of course we want to have a tourism sector that works.

“But there is a problem in the private rented sector, particularly in beautiful parts of our country like those which he represents, where we do have homes which are turned into Airbnbs and into holiday lets in a way that actually impedes the capacity of young workers to find a place where they can stay in the locale that they love and contribute to the economy of which they wish to be part.

“We will be bringing forward some planning changes to the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill which are intended to ensure that we have restrictions over the way in which dwelling homes can be turned into Airbnbs. I look forward to working with him and other colleagues.”

According to Cumbria Tourism’s autumn 2022 report, around a quarter of vacancies in the tourism sector in Cumbria are unfilled, with up to 50 per cent of positions in some businesses vacant.