The 90-day rule for Airbnb: what it is, and whether it applies outside London

In England, the Airbnb 90-day rule is a Greater London planning rule, not a UK-wide letting cap. It matters because the same phrase 90 days is used for both an annual London short-let allowance and a separate long-stay test.

What is the 90-day rule for short-term lets?

The 90-day rule for short-term lets is Greater London’s rule that a council-tax-paying home can be used as temporary sleeping accommodation for up to 90 nights in a calendar year without that use becoming a material change of use needing planning permission. The annual cap answers the common 90-day rule Airbnb UK question and whether you can Airbnb your house for 3 months: in London, 90 short-let nights is the planning threshold, but not a guarantee that a mortgage, lease, insurance policy or council restriction allows it. The confusing part is that London law uses 90 days twice: the annual allowance is 90 nights per calendar year, while a separate definition treats occupation by the same person for less than 90 consecutive nights as temporary sleeping accommodation. That second rule is why a genuine 90-night-or-longer residential stay is different from repeatedly selling short tourist stays.

Does the 90-day rule apply outside London?

The 90-day Airbnb rule does not apply outside Greater London as a statutory annual night cap: England outside London has no 90-night short-let limit, Scotland uses short-term-let licensing, Wales has a 31-day planning class for each occupation, and Northern Ireland requires Tourism NI certification. That is the clean answer to Airbnb 90-day rule outside London: the London cap is not a UK Airbnb rule, even though Airbnb’s own help page also says its automatic 90-night limit is London-specific. Scotland’s regime is not a 90-night quota, because its standard licence conditions must not impose a night limit on secondary letting. Wales regulates commercial short-term letting through Class C6, which is framed as stays not longer than 31 days for each period of occupation. Northern Ireland’s control is certification before offering tourist accommodation, not a London-style annual count.

What happens when you hit the 90-day limit in London?

When you hit the 90-day limit in London, exceeding it is not itself the offence that carries a fine: letting for more than 90 short-let nights becomes a material change of use needing planning permission, and the unlimited fine applies if a planning enforcement notice is ignored. This corrects the stale £20,000 figure still published by the City of London; national planning enforcement guidance says the penalty for the offence is an unlimited fine. In practice, Airbnb says that once an entire-home listing in Greater London receives 90 nights of bookings for the current calendar year, the calendar is automatically blocked for further short-term bookings that year unless the host has permission. Councils can take planning enforcement action where the use continues without permission, and borough policy may make permission hard to obtain: Camden says applications to convert whole residential properties to short-term or holiday lets are likely to be refused.

How do you get around the 90-day rule?

You do not lawfully get around the 90-day rule by resetting listings; the lawful routes in London are to stop at 90 short-let nights, get planning permission for more than 90 nights, or switch to a genuine residential letting of more than 90 consecutive nights to the same occupier. The long-let switch is not a loophole, because London guidance says a home already lawfully in residential use does not need planning permission to be rented to long-term occupiers for periods of more than 90 nights at a time. By contrast, duplicate listings designed to restart the Airbnb count are unlawful: the BBC reported in October 2025 that many landlords were creating multiple listings for the same property to keep renting all year, and Westminster was investigating around 2,700 alleged breaches. Planning permission is also not a reliable escape hatch, because Tower Hamlets says applications to change residential properties to short-term lets are highly unlikely to comply with policy and may be refused.

Do you need a licence to let for more than 90 days in London?

You do not currently need a specific London short-let licence to let for more than 90 short-let nights; you need planning permission for the short-let use, while national short-let registration in England has been announced but is not yet a live licensing duty. The Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 requires regulations for registration of specified short-term rental properties in England, and GOV.UK says the government is introducing a mandatory national registration scheme, but that is not the same as a present 90-day licence issued by a council department. Borough selective licensing and HMO licensing are separate private-rented-sector regimes, unrelated to the Airbnb day count: holiday-home occupancies are exempt from Housing Act 2004 Part 3 selective licensing, but switching to ordinary residential lettings of 90 consecutive nights or more can bring local landlord licensing back into play. Abodient can hold each property’s compliance obligations by jurisdiction and show what is overdue, which matters when one London property has planning, PRS licensing and certificate duties on different tracks.

Last reviewed August 2026.

Sources

• Deregulation Act 2015 s.44 — “Despite section 25(1), the use as temporary sleeping accommodation of any residential premises in Greater London does not involve a material change of use if two conditions are met.” Source
• GOV.UK consultation on short-term lets and permitted development rights — “Through the Greater London (General Powers) Act 1973, as amended by the Deregulation Act 2015 in London, households that pay council tax may let out their home for up to 90 nights in a calendar year for temporary sleeping accommodation.” Source
• Westminster short-term lets guidance — “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 by way of trade for money or money's worth, or by reason of the employment of the occupant whether or not the relationship of landlord and tenant is thereby created.” Source
• Greater London Authority guidance on short-term and holiday lets in London — “The information here has been tailored to Londoners and is different for those living outside the capital.” Source
• Scotland Short-term Lets Licensing Order 2022 schedule 2 — “Standard conditions determined in respect of a short-term let licence must not impose a limit on the number of nights for which premises may be used for secondary letting.” Source
• Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) (Amendment) (Wales) Order 2022 article 2 — “Use of a dwellinghouse for commercial short-term letting not longer than 31 days for each period of occupation.” Source
• Tourism Northern Ireland accommodation guidance — “It is illegal to offer tourist accommodation in Northern Ireland without a certificate from Tourism NI.” Source
• GOV.UK consultation on Greater London 90-night planning rule — “Letting for more than 90 nights constitutes a material change of use and planning permission is required.” Source
• Greater London Authority guidance on enforcement — “People letting their property in breach of this law risk local councils taking planning enforcement action against them.” Source
• GOV.UK planning enforcement guidance — “A person guilty of an offence is liable on conviction to an unlimited fine.” Source
• Airbnb help article on London hosting limits — “Once you receive 90 nights of bookings for the current calendar year, the system will automatically limit your listing from being booked for dates in the rest of the calendar year, and guests will not be able to book your listing unless their booking dates fall within the next year.” Source
• Camden short-term lettings planning permission guidance — “This means applications for whole residential properties to be converted to short term/ holiday lettings are likely to be refused.” Source
• Greater London Authority guidance on long-term occupiers — “Providing your home is already lawfully in residential use you don’t need planning permission to rent it out to long-term occupiers for periods of more than 90 nights at a time.” Source
• BBC report on duplicate Airbnb listings — “But many landlords are creating multiple listings for the same property, switching to a new one once the limit is reached in order to unlawfully keep renting the property for short-term lets all year.” Source
• Tower Hamlets short-term lets guidance — “Applications to change the use of residential properties to short term lets are highly unlikely to comply with this policy, and we may therefore refuse planning permission.” Source
• GOV.UK self-catering holiday home rules — “The UK government is introducing a mandatory national registration scheme for short‑term lets in England.” 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
• Selective Licensing of Houses (Specified Exemptions) (England) Order 2006 article 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
• Selective Licensing of Houses (Specified Exemptions) (England) Order 2006 explanatory note — “The effect of the exemption is that Part 3 of the Act does not apply to houses in England that are subject to a tenancy or licence described in article 2 and they are not, therefore, subject to the licensing requirements described in section 85 of the Act.” Source
• Tower Hamlets landlord licensing guidance — “If you are a residential landlord in certain parts of the borough, you must by law obtain a license from the council.” Source