Landlords Warning – London Olympics 90 day lettings law

A little confused here ,are we assuming that there are loads of properties in London that has no permission for use as housing , eg warehouses, empty shops ,ect and that all of a sudden landlords will rent them as nightly or weekly accommodation because in general there is very little housing around in London that is empty for long periods .Those that will be available already has permission as housing , for example all the private rental accommodation and of course the council properties that people are renting off the council and are and will rent their rooms out if there are any available in their household hence the government wishing to bring in new regulation to stop council /housing association tenants from sub letting I hope they help the private sector with this also .With regards to getting caught it will be easy to get caught I would assume there would be contracts made available otherwise the whole thing will be illegal ,1,2,3, different contracts in the same property within a short period will be detected by the rate department ,so you as landlord would have to pay the rates to get round this . So I think there will be a lot of private residential properties where landlords / ladies living in will profit , they don't need contracts . After this you can also guarantee agents will be  benefiting from this as they have control of empty properties so be aware owners with empties .        

Joshriza

This is not about changing use from commerical to domestic it is about changing use from "permenant" to "temporary" residential.

“(1) For the purposes of s.22(1) of the Act of 1971, the use as temporary sleeping accommodation of any residential premises in Greater London involves a material change of use of the premises and of each part thereof which is so used.
(2) In this section -
(a) “use as temporary sleeping accommodation” means use as sleeping accommodation which is occupied by the same person for less than 90 consecutive nights and which is provided (with or without other services) for a consideration arising either -

PDSquire

This is taken from a BBC New article here http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-15083506

"But Juliet Rowe, who lives in Westminster, would be in a
very different situation if she wanted to rent out her apartment for a short
period.

Westminster effectively bans short term lets of 90 days or under unless
planning permission is obtained - but this is rarely given.

If she were to rent out her home anyway during the games, she could face a fine of
£20,000 and even a criminal record.

Ms Rowe does not plan to do this - but said it was enormously disappointing."

I rather see the Olympics as an opportunity for people to let out a room in the house they already occupy rather than a short term let in an empty property which would be much less desireable from a landlords point of view than a settled long term arrangement. I'm not sure this restriction applies to 'lodgers' as the material use of the property would remain as long term residential.
Also from my experience the process begins with the threat of an enforcement notice if anyone finds out, then an application for planning permission (8 weeks) then an appeal against that (1 year) all in all impossible to enforce.
After all it isn't an offence until planning permission has finally been denied. It's probaly not due process to isuse an enforcement notice until a planning application has been resolved. 

You would have thought that the govt would  be sensible and have lifted al restrictions for residential occupiers to let out their whole proerties or rooms in their properties without restriction for the duration of the games.
Making the UK an inviting place for all vistitors and potentially reducing the costs for visitors.
Fair enough resticting council and  social housing tenants who are on hosing benefit.
But anyone not on benefit who has a council house should be able to rent at least a spare room or even the whole property without compromising their council tenancy.
Of couse the obvious reason this won't happen is the beginning sentence which mentions sensible and govt!
Not 2 words that normally get along with eachother!!?

Only to be expected that the majority of London landlords won't be aware of this obscure law, so well done Mary for publicising it. I gather its so obscure that even you weren't aware of it until a good friend of mine pointed it out to you.

Yes Richard Nick told me about this a while ago and I thought that it was important to warn landlords who let in London.

According to Mark Alexander there are other reasons why landlords need to be cautious about letting during the Olympics

"Apparently the industry are expecting an influx of superbugs with the Olympics."

Not my prediction Mary, I was simply quoting a worldwide renowned expert on the subject, a Mr David Cain. See this thread 
http://www.property118.com/index.php/bedbugs-an-hmo-landlords-story/23588/ and note the potentially devastating effects on profitability.

It would seem that neither the law nor superbugs will stop some people cashing in http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/9119101/Britains-most-expensive-luxury-rental-properties-fail-to-attract-interest-for-the-Olympics.html