Cllr Adam Hug, leader of Westminster City Council, has set out what he sees as the three things that need to happen for tourism to sustainably thrive in a way that meets the needs of residents.
Any council leader with tourist attractions on their patch will know how devastating lockdown was for the trade. Even in Westminster – home to the West End, palaces, famous streets, theatres, and shops – our visitor figures went off a cliff.
It has been a slow climb back, but the vital signs are good, with spending and footfall heading towards pre-lockdown levels. In Westminster alone, tourism and hospitality bring in £8bn a year and support 150,000 jobs.
At least three things need to happen for tourism and hospitality to sustainably thrive and to do so in a way that meets the needs of our local residents.
First, short-term lets. We have more properties listed on Airbnb than any other borough, with 11,800 properties let over the period from January to July this year, some of whom we believe are in breach of London’s rules requiring planning permission for properties being let for more than 90 days.
This is all against the backdrop of the housing crisis that is gripping our city, where we have over 4,000 households on the waiting list and private rents rocketing by nearly a quarter in the past year.
Whole buildings are effectively being hollowed out by short lets. One block in Westminster has been known to offer almost as many rooms per night than the Ritz (98 compared to the Ritz’s 111). The short-term let industry has a major advantage over hoteliers who pay business rates, corporation tax and must take responsibility for the behaviour and impact of those who stay there.
Local people frequently have to endure noisy parties. They put up with the mess and pay the bill. One desperate resident messaged us to say: ‘They started a loud party soon after 11PM with loud music above us. More and more people are coming even now. It is not the first time; they make any sleep impossible.’ Should that person have to pay for the clean-up through their council tax?
What I am calling for is for the Government to finally deliver the introduction of a compulsory registration scheme for every individual short-term let property. It must give us the power to issue penalties to unregistered hosts and penalise hosts whose guests dump waste or commit noise offences. Right now, we can only prosecute the visitors, who are often impossible to identify or have moved on before we can enforce.
Any change must not take place through a convoluted combination of permitted development rights to a new STL use class and a cumbersome Article 4 after the event, which could create a de facto amnesty for STLs currently breaking the law, with local authorities only able to shut the stable door after the horse had bolted.
Second, we are exploring what an overnight stay levy could look like in practice.
Currently, Westminster’s residents have to pay for many of the services that support the one million people who pass through our streets every day. As we and other local authorities face tens of millions in cuts over the next few years, the time has come to consider whether councils should have the right to decide for themselves whether to charge a small levy on short lets as well as hotels. Common in major cities around the world, this is an argument increasingly being aired across the UK.
The money raised would be invested locally in services like cleansing and waste collection. An overnight levy would ensure that those visiting our city were playing their part by contributing to its upkeep.
Thirdly, we need to see consistent Government policy and investment to support local initiatives.
From the cuts to major arts institutions – only partially reversed after an understandable outcry – to the Government’s vacillating on tax-free shopping that has seen international shoppers decamp to Paris and Milan and the current mess that is the Government’s approach to HS2 long-term investment by the private sector, local government is put at risk by the lack of clarity and consistency from the ‘other Westminster'.
Westminster loves its visitors. We want them to have a fantastic time enjoying our unrivalled attractions, but it must be in a way that works for our residents. The changes I have set out will allow us to look after them and, as importantly, look after the city they have come to enjoy.
