Do you need a licence for a short-term let, and what are the new rules?

In England, there is still no live national short-term-let licence, but Scotland already has mandatory licensing and Wales has a dated visitor-accommodation registration scheme. Across the UK, the answer depends heavily on which nation the property is in, whether the guest is there for a holiday, and whether the accommodation is the host’s home, a second home or a rent-to-rent unit.

What counts as a short-term let?

A short-term let is usually guest accommodation that is not the guest’s only or principal home; Scotland licenses it regardless of length, Wales uses a 31-day planning class for commercial short-term letting, and Greater London treats short-term letting as under 90 nights for its planning rule. Scotland’s statutory definition says “short-term let” means residential accommodation provided by a host in business to a guest, and one criterion is that “the guest does not use the accommodation as their only or principal home”. That is why Airbnb is classed as a short-term let in Scotland when it meets the licensing definition, even if the booking is only one night. In Wales, the planning use class is narrower: “Use of a dwellinghouse for commercial short-term letting not longer than 31 days for each period of occupation.” In England, there is not one settled UK-wide night-count definition; the future English register uses the same only-or-principal-residence idea.

Do you need a short-term let licence in England?

You do not currently need an England-wide short-term-let licence or holiday-let licence, because England has legislated for a future registration scheme rather than a live licensing regime. The Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 says: “The Secretary of State must by regulations make provision requiring or permitting the registration of specified short-term rental properties in England.” GOV.UK still describes the register as future, saying “The UK government is introducing a mandatory national registration scheme for short‑term lets in England” and that “It is expected to begin in 2026.” That means hosts looking for a short-term let licence England can normally list today without a national short-let licence, but they must still deal with planning, fire, gas, lease, mortgage, insurance and local restrictions. Greater London is different on planning: Airbnb’s own system says it limits entire-home Greater London listings to 90 nights a year unless planning permission is shown.

Do you need a short-term let licence in Scotland?

You need a short-term-let licence in Scotland before taking bookings as a new host, because short-term letting has been a licensed activity there since 1 October 2022. The Scottish licensing order says “The activity referred to in paragraph (1) is a short-term let on or after 1 October 2022,” and Scottish Government guidance is blunt: “New hosts are required to obtain a short-term let licence before accepting bookings or receiving guests.” Operating without one is not just a paperwork breach; the Scottish Government says, “Operating without a licence is a criminal offence and the maximum fine is currently £2,500.” A licence to let in Edinburgh follows the same national rule, and Edinburgh Council tells hosts: “You need a licence before you can take bookings or receive guests on a short-term let basis.” Once licensed, Scotland also requires the licence number in adverts.

What is secondary letting?

Secondary letting is the Scottish short-term-let category for letting accommodation that is not, and is not part of, the licence holder’s only or principal home. The licensing order defines it directly: “secondary letting” means a short-term let of accommodation “which is not, or is not part of, the licence holder’s only or principal home”. In ordinary terms, this covers a whole flat, second home or investment property let to guests where the host does not normally live there. It is different from home sharing or home letting, where the host’s own home is involved. England, Wales and Northern Ireland do not use the same statutory secondary-letting label for short-term lets. In England, a periodic assured tenancy carries an implied restriction on subletting without the landlord’s consent; Wales now has its own Renting Homes regime, and guest use there is dealt with through the occupation contract, superior lease and any planning or visitor-accommodation registration rules.

What are the new rules for short-term and holiday lets?

The main new rules are Scotland’s live licensing regime, England’s planned national registration scheme, Wales’s visitor-accommodation registration from 1 October 2026, and the UK-wide abolition of the furnished-holiday-letting tax regime from 6 April 2025. Scotland is already in force: “The activity referred to in paragraph (1) is a short-term let on or after 1 October 2022.” England is not licensing nationally yet, but it must create a register. Wales has not copied England: it has enacted a visitor-accommodation register and says the legal default for a future licensing scheme is March 2030. Tax has also changed: Finance Act 2025 says, “Schedule 5 contains provision abolishing the special rules relating to the commercial letting of furnished holiday accommodation,” and HMRC says the furnished holiday lettings rules cease for Income Tax and CGT from 6 April 2025. Northern Ireland remains on its pre-existing Tourism NI certification system.

What is the short-term let registration scheme, and when does it start?

The £5,000 England registration penalty is not a penalty: GOV.UK’s consultation used £5,000–£6,000 as average host earnings, and England still has only a duty to make registration regulations, while Wales’s registration scheme starts on 1 October 2026. The English statutory provision says: “The Secretary of State must by regulations make provision requiring or permitting the registration of specified short-term rental properties in England.” It also allows regulations to say “who may, or must, register,” but those operational rules are not yet in force. The consultation figure often misread as a fine was about income: hosts “earned £5,000-£6,000 a year.” Wales is different: the commencement order says provisions start “on 1 October 2026,” and Welsh law says “A VAP must be registered in respect of the premises” where it provides visitor accommodation. Wales’s first failure-to-register penalty is £100 per premises from 1 April 2027. Scotland is licensing, not registration.

How do you check whether a property has a short-term let licence?

To check a short-term-let licence, use the Scottish council’s public register for the property address; England has no live national licence checker, Wales will have a WRA search by postcode or registration number, and Northern Ireland uses Tourism NI certification rather than a short-let licence. Scotland’s rules require public access: “From 1 October 2022, the licensing authority must publish the content of the register, in relation to short-term let licences only, on their website or other website established and maintained for that purpose and provide access free of charge.” Mygov.scot gives the practical route: “Visit the local council’s website to search their public register.” Edinburgh’s register is not live minute-by-minute; the council says it is published “on at least a monthly basis, normally on the first Monday of each month.” In Wales, the forthcoming register will let users search accommodation “using a postcode or registration number.”

What are the legal requirements for running a short-term or holiday let?

The legal requirements for a short-term or holiday let are licensing in Scotland, registration in Wales from October 2026, Tourism NI certification in Northern Ireland, and in England compliance with planning, fire, gas, tax, lease, mortgage and local rules rather than a live national licence. Scotland’s licensing order says a short-term let is an activity “for which a licence under Part 1 of the 1982 Act is required.” For England and Wales fire safety, the responsible person must make “a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks” to identify required fire precautions. For gas, HSE says that for occupancies under 28 days, “you should display a legible copy of the gas safety check record in a prominent place.” Abodient tracks gas safety certificate expiry dates and sends renewal reminders across a portfolio, which is useful for a landlord who lets a room or a whole property short-term alongside longer lets that still carry the same annual gas safety duty. In Wales, registration is separate from licensing: the Welsh Government says that from October 2026, if you take bookings for overnight stays in Wales, you must register with the WRA, while licensing defaults to March 2030.

What agreement do you use for a short-term let?

Use a holiday letting agreement or short-stay licence for a genuine holiday or guest booking, not an assured tenancy, occupation contract or private residential tenancy form. There is no prescribed UK form called a short let tenancy agreement, and the right document should match the actual occupation: a holiday stay, serviced accommodation booking or guest licence is different from letting someone a home as their only or principal residence. In England, the holiday-let exclusion is a tenancy “the purpose of which is to confer on the tenant the right to occupy the dwelling-house for a holiday.” Scotland has the same concept for private residential tenancies: “A tenancy cannot be a private residential tenancy if the purpose of it is to confer on the tenant the right to occupy the let property for a holiday.” Wales also excludes a holiday right of occupation from the normal occupation-contract regime unless the notice condition is met.

Is an Airbnb or short stay a tenancy?

An Airbnb or short stay can be a tenancy if it grants exclusive possession for a term at rent, but a genuine holiday stay is excluded from the main residential-tenancy regimes in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The classic England-and-Wales test is still that “residential accommodation is granted for a term at a rent with exclusive possession” and no attendance or services, then “the grant is a tenancy.” But tenancy status is not the same as assured-tenancy status. In England, a holiday-purpose tenancy is excluded because Schedule 1 covers “A tenancy the purpose of which is to confer on the tenant the right to occupy the dwelling-house for a holiday.” England also requires an assured tenant to occupy as their “only or principal home.” Scotland excludes both holiday-purpose tenancies and licensed-scheme short-term lets from private residential tenancy status. Northern Ireland similarly excludes a tenancy granted for occupation “for a holiday.”

Can you still do a short fixed-term let now the Renters' Rights Act has abolished fixed terms?

GOV.UK’s line that “You cannot have an end date” only applies to assured tenancies, so a genuine holiday let can still have a fixed end date because holiday lets are excluded from assured-tenancy status. The Renters’ Rights Act change is aimed at assured tenancies: the Act says “Terms of an assured tenancy are of no effect” so far as they create a fixed term, and Housing Act 1988 section 16E prohibits a person from purporting to let an assured tenancy for a fixed term. But a holiday let is not an assured tenancy in England: Schedule 1 excludes “A tenancy the purpose of which is to confer on the tenant the right to occupy the dwelling-house for a holiday.” That means a genuine 3–6 month short holiday or temporary stay can still be documented with an end date, but a normal home-let cannot be relabelled as Airbnb merely to dodge assured-tenancy rules.

Do you need a licence for serviced accommodation?

Serviced accommodation needs a short-term-let licence in Scotland if it is a licensed short-term let, needs Welsh visitor-accommodation registration from October 2026, needs Tourism NI certification in Northern Ireland, and does not currently need an England-wide serviced-accommodation licence. Scotland’s order makes short-term letting a licensed activity and says the activity is “a short-term let on or after 1 October 2022,” although hotels with hotel planning permission are excluded. England has a future register only: the 2023 Act requires regulations for registration of short-term rental properties, and GOV.UK says the scheme is expected to begin in 2026. A holiday-home occupancy in England is also excluded from selective licensing, because the order excludes “a tenancy or licence that is granted to a person in relation to his occupancy of a house or a dwelling as a holiday home.” In Wales, registration is real from October 2026, while licensing’s legal default is March 2030.

For a rent-to-rent short let, does the operator or the owner register?

For a rent-to-rent short let, Scotland generally points to the host or operator applying, Wales points to the occupier-provider registering, and England has not yet made regulations saying whether the operator or owner must register. Scotland’s definition of host includes an “owner, tenant, or person who otherwise exercises control over occupation and use,” so a rent-to-rent serviced-accommodation operator can be the host even without owning the property. Scottish guidance says: “You, as the host or operator, can apply for a licence to use accommodation to provide short-term lets.” If the applicant is not the owner, the Scottish application must include the owner’s consent. Wales is different: a visitor accommodation provider must be an occupier of the premises, and “A VAP must be registered in respect of the premises” where it provides visitor accommodation; Welsh guidance adds that agents or management companies are not responsible for registering, though they can do it on someone’s behalf.

Why are people using Airbnb less?

People are not using Airbnb-style short-term lets less nationally: UK platform guest-nights rose 11.5% in 2025, but Edinburgh supply fell after licensing and 2026 data points to supply growing faster than bookings. ONS says: “There was an 11.5% increase in guest nights in 2025 from the previous 12-month period,” reaching 100,911,620 guest-nights across Airbnb, Booking.com and Expedia Group. The real decline story is local and economic, not a UK-wide collapse. Edinburgh’s licensing and planning squeeze changed that market sharply: a council-reported figure put Airbnb listings down from about 14,000 in 2019 to 7,000 in December 2023. In 2026, the pressure is occupancy: VisitBritain/Lighthouse reported that “supply grow by 4%” in April 2026 while “nights reserved continued to decline and occupancy dipped slightly.” So the market is not dead; it is more regulated, more crowded, and less forgiving.

Last reviewed September 2026.

Sources

• Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term Lets) Order 2022 art.3 — “‘short-term let’ means the use of residential accommodation provided by a host in the course of business to a guest, where all of the following criteria are met—” Source
• Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term Lets) Order 2022 art.3 — “(a) the guest does not use the accommodation as their only or principal home,” Source
• Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987 Sch. Part C — “Use of a dwellinghouse for commercial short-term letting not longer than 31 days for each period of occupation.” Source
• Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 s.228 — “The Secretary of State must by regulations make provision requiring or permitting the registration of specified short-term rental properties in England.” Source
• GOV.UK, letting out a self-catering holiday home — “The UK government is introducing a mandatory national registration scheme for short‑term lets in England.” Source
• GOV.UK, letting out a self-catering holiday home — “It is expected to begin in 2026.” Source
• Airbnb Help Centre, responsible hosting in the UK — “We automatically limit entire home listings in Greater London to 90 nights a year, unless you have planning permission to host more frequently.” Source
• Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term Lets) Order 2022 art.4 — “The activity referred to in paragraph (1) is a short-term let on or after 1 October 2022.” Source
• Scottish Government, short-term lets licensing scheme — “New hosts are required to obtain a short-term let licence before accepting bookings or receiving guests.” Source
• Scottish Government letter to MSPs — “Operating without a licence is a criminal offence and the maximum fine is currently £2,500.” Source
• City of Edinburgh Council, short-term let licence — “You need a licence before you can take bookings or receive guests on a short-term let basis.” Source
• Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term Lets) Order 2022 Sch.2 para.17 — “‘secondary letting’ means a short-term let consisting of the entering into of an agreement for the use of accommodation which is not, or is not part of, the licence holder’s only or principal home,” Source
• Housing Act 1988 s.15 — “Subject to subsection (3) below, it shall be an implied term of every assured tenancy which is a periodic tenancy that, except with the consent of the landlord, the tenant shall not—” Source
• Finance Act 2025 s.25 — “Schedule 5 contains provision abolishing the special rules relating to the commercial letting of furnished holiday accommodation.” Source
• HMRC Property Income Manual PIM4165 — “The furnished holiday lettings rules cease to apply in tax years commencing on or after 6 April 2025 for Income Tax and for Capital Gains Tax, and 1 April 2025 for Corporation Tax and for Corporation Tax on chargeable gains.” Source
• GOV.UK consultation on short-term-let registration in England — “There is no authoritative data on the host types and the ownership and operating structure of short-term lettings, but analysis of call for evidence responses found that on average, hosts listed 1-2 properties and earned £5,000-£6,000 a year.” Source
• The Visitor Accommodation (Register and Levy) Etc. (Wales) Act 2025 (Commencement No. 1) Order 2025 — “Article 2 of this Order commences certain provisions of the Act on 1 October 2026.” Source
• Visitor Accommodation (Register and Levy) Etc. (Wales) Act 2025 s.5 — “A VAP must be registered in respect of the premises at which the VAP provides, or offers to provide, visitor accommodation.” Source
• Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term Lets) Order 2022 Sch.2 para.13 — “From 1 October 2022, the licensing authority must publish the content of the register, in relation to short-term let licences only, on their website or other website established and maintained for that purpose and provide access free of charge.” Source
• Mygov.scot, check a short-term-let register — “Visit the local council’s website to search their public register.” Source
• City of Edinburgh Council, short-term lets public register — “The public register will be published on at least a monthly basis, normally on the first Monday of each month.” Source
• Welsh Government, registering visitor accommodation — “You’ll be able to search for accommodation using a postcode or registration number.” Source
• Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 art.9 — “The responsible person must make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to which relevant persons are exposed for the purpose of identifying the general fire precautions he needs to take to comply with the requirements and prohibitions imposed on him by or under this Order.” Source
• HSE, gas safety records — “For occupancies less than 28 days, you should display a legible copy of the gas safety check record in a prominent place in the premises checked (eg mobile home).” Source
• Welsh Government, registering visitor accommodation — “From October 2026, if you take bookings for overnight stays in Wales, you must register with the Welsh Revenue Authority (WRA) by law.” Source
• Welsh Government, licensing visitor accommodation — “The legal default is that the licensing scheme will come into force in March 2030.” Source
• Housing Act 1988 Sch.1 para.9 — “A tenancy the purpose of which is to confer on the tenant the right to occupy the dwelling-house for a holiday.” Source
• Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016 Sch.1 para.6 — “A tenancy cannot be a private residential tenancy if the purpose of it is to confer on the tenant the right to occupy the let property for a holiday.” Source
• Street v Mountford [1985] UKHL 4 — “If on the other hand residential accommodation is granted for a term at a rent with exclusive possession, the landlord providing neither attendance nor services, the grant is a tenancy;” Source
• Housing Act 1988 s.1 — “(b)the tenant or, as the case may be, at least one of the joint tenants occupies the dwelling-house as his only or principal home; and” Source
• The Private Tenancies (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 art.3 — “(c)a tenancy the purpose of which is to confer on the tenant the right to occupy a dwelling-house for a holiday.” Source
• Renters’ Rights Act 2025 s.1 — “Terms of an assured tenancy are of no effect so far as they provide—” Source
• Housing Act 1988 s.16E — “(a)purport to let a dwelling-house on the tenancy for a fixed term (see section 4A),” Source
• Selective Licensing of Houses (Specified Exemptions) (England) Order 2006 art.2 — “(g)a tenancy or licence that is granted to a person in relation to his occupancy of a house or a dwelling as a holiday home; or” Source
• Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term Lets) Order 2022 art.2 — “‘host’ means a person who is the owner, tenant, or person who otherwise exercises control over occupation and use, of the accommodation which is the subject of a short-term let,” Source
• Scottish Government, licensing guidance for hosts and operators — “You, as the host or operator, can apply for a licence to use accommodation to provide short-term lets.” Source
• Visitor Accommodation (Register and Levy) Etc. (Wales) Act 2025 s.3 — “(c) is an occupier of the premises at which the visitor accommodation is provided.” Source
• Welsh Government, registering visitor accommodation — “Agents or management companies are not responsible for registering, but they can register on your behalf.” Source
• ONS, short-term lets through online collaborative economy platforms — “There was an 11.5% increase in guest nights in 2025 from the previous 12-month period, January to December 2024 (90,507,070).” Source
• ONS, short-term lets through online collaborative economy platforms — “From January to December 2025, there were 100,911,620 guest nights spent in short-term lets in the UK.” Source
• The Edinburgh Reporter, regulatory scheme for short-term lets — “Using the same data, that figure has dropped to 7,000 overall listings in December 2023.” Source
• VisitBritain / Lighthouse, short-term rental data — “April 2026 saw supply grow by 4% compared with the same month in 2025, while nights reserved continued to decline and occupancy dipped slightly over the same period.” Source