The UK Short Term Accommodation Association (STAA), the trade association representing the thousands of owners and businesses operating in this sharing economy sector, has welcomed the Government’s plans to introduce a registration scheme for short-term holiday lets.

The STAA has been advocating for a national registration scheme to collect data on holiday rentals to support accurate reporting and policy decisions. This registration scheme is the culmination of months of work between the STAA team and the Government. The STAA was clear from the start that, in order to be successful,  the scheme should be simple for owners to register with, straightforward for authorities to administer and low cost to run.

A report published last week by Oxford Economics, found that short-term holiday lets benefit communities across the UK driving spending to the tune of £27.7bn in 2021, providing around half a million jobs and supporting local businesses. It also found that 56% of visitor spend goes directly to hosts, helping hard-working families deal with the cost-of-living crisis.

Andy Fenner, CEO of the STAA, said, “Holiday lets represent a tiny proportion of the total housing market yet provide vital flexible jobs and investment in our communities. The STAA wants the highest standards across our industry and clear, easy-to-use registration helps us achieve that. We have worked closely with the Government’s tourism officials to help develop this  registration scheme and are very pleased that it has been announced.”

STAA Chair, Merilee Karr added, “It’s critical that any scheme that is introduced is simple and low cost for hosts to register with and straightforward for authorities to run. It must also take into account the benefits that the short-term holiday lets industry brings to local communities and support owners who rent out properties that would otherwise sit empty. Any new regulatory solution should recognise our industry as an important part of the wider UK tourism proposition, which means we need a solution that gets the balance right.”

Yesterday in a final meeting before the policy announcement, Ms Karr and Mr Fenner met with the Rt Hon Stuart Andrew MP and agreed with him that a well-run registration scheme is the best way forward and that the STAA team is looking forward to continuing to work with Mr Andrew to achieve this.