Short lets in London, and the 90 nights a year you get without planning permission
If you manage or clean short lets in London, you're working under a rule written for Greater London alone. A whole home can take paying visitors for up to 90 nights in a calendar year without planning permission, as long as the person letting it pays council tax there, and at the end of March 2026 Westminster was investigating 2,712 homes for unlawful short letting. Upbridge's AI operations assistant, Cleo, works over WhatsApp with vacation rental operators and cleaning companies and organizes the cleanings and the inventory for each place.
The rules here
London has its own night limit on top of the rules for the whole of England. We checked every row on 23 October 2026.
| Topic | What it says | Status | Since | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Across England | The tax, fire safety and business rates rules that cover every holiday let in England apply in London too, and the national register is expected to open in March 2027. They're explained on our England page, so we haven't copied them here. | In force | Varies | England |
| The 90-night limit | The Deregulation Act 2015 added a section to the Greater London Council (General Powers) Act 1973. Under it, letting a home as temporary sleeping accommodation doesn't count as a change of use if the lets stay under 90 nights in the calendar year and the person providing the accommodation is liable for council tax on it. | In force | 2015 | City of London |
| Past 90 nights | If either condition isn't met, the City of London's planning page says you need planning permission. A council can serve an enforcement notice telling you to stop, and ignoring one can bring a fine of up to £20,000. | In force | 1973 Act, as amended | City of London |
| Airbnb's own cap | Airbnb says its systems automatically limit entire-home listings in Greater London to 90 nights per calendar year, unless the host certifies they have the permissions to go beyond that. | In force | 2017 | Airbnb |
This is not legal or tax advice, and Upbridge does not file anything for you: no registrations and no tax returns.
How it works on the ground
The boroughs are opening more cases than they used to. Freedom of Information figures gathered by The Property Buying Company, reported by Property Reporter on 16 April 2026, show Westminster opened 499 new short-letting investigations in 2025, up from 469 the year before, and issued 22 notices with 36 more in draft, after just 2 in 2024. Tower Hamlets looked at 24 properties in 2025 and found 8 in breach, and Hounslow found 10.
ShortTermRentalz pointed out in April that breaches are still hard for councils to prove. If you look after flats for several owners, that's a good reason to keep your own record of every stay in every flat, because the owner is the one a borough will ask.
Airbnb's counter only sees bookings made on Airbnb. A flat that also takes guests through Booking.com or direct bookings can pass 90 nights without any platform stopping it, so the count across all channels is something you or the owner has to keep.
Heathrow Express runs to Paddington in 15 minutes, every 15 minutes, so a lot of guests start the last stretch of their trip at Paddington with a suitcase. Directions that begin at the station, with the right Tube line or bus and the walk from the stop, save you a phone call at the worst moment.
Where Upbridge fits
Counting nights and asking for permission stay with you and the owner. Upbridge turns every checkout on your calendar, whether it comes from Guesty, Hostaway, Lodgify, Uplisting or an iCal link, into a cleaning with a photo checklist for each room and a timestamped report at the end, so every changeover in every flat leaves a dated record behind it.
For the guest stepping off at Paddington, we build the guest guide with the route to your door and how to get in, and they open it on their phone before they leave the station.
If you run a cleaning company in London
Here the night limit reaches your rota too. When a client's flat runs out of its 90 nights without permission to go further, the short lets stop until January and so do those changeovers. The account for cleaning companies shows every owner's bookings in one calendar, which makes it easy to spot a flat that has gone quiet for the rest of the year, and each client stays yours.
Questions about short lets in London
What is the 90-night rule for short lets in London?
A home in Greater London can be let as temporary sleeping accommodation for up to 90 nights in a calendar year without planning permission, if the person providing it is liable for council tax there. The exception comes from the Deregulation Act 2015, according to the City of London's planning page, updated 10 June 2025.
What happens if a London short let goes past 90 nights?
It needs planning permission from the council. Without it the council can serve an enforcement notice, and the City of London says not complying can mean a fine of up to £20,000.
How many short lets is Westminster investigating?
2,712 properties as of 30 March 2026, according to Freedom of Information figures reported by Property Reporter in April 2026.
Sources
Checked on 23 October 2026
- City of London Corporation, “Short term letting”, updated 10 June 2025.
- Property Reporter, “Over 2,700 Westminster properties under investigation for unlawful short-term letting”, 16 April 2026.
- ShortTermRentalz, Galen Halasz, “London wrestles with breaches of 90-night rule”, 21 April 2026.
- Airbnb Help Centre, article 1340 on short-term rental laws in London, undated, read 23 October 2026.
- Heathrow Express, undated, read 23 October 2026.