YORK Central MP Rachael Maskell is bringing a Private Members Bill before Parliament on Friday calling for tighter regulation of short term holidays lets such as Airbnb.

She says she is ‘concerned about villages hollowed out by holiday let investors and second home owners, and urban streets that are now party streets’.

In an exclusive column in the Press today, the MP writes: “In York, over 2,000 properties have now been snatched up by investors, denying first time buyers any chance to get on the housing ladder.

“Worse, those living in the private rented sector are being turfed out of their homes to make way for stag and hen groups to party away in York’s once quite streets. The landlords sit back and watch their profits rise, some raking in over £2,000 a weekend.

Whether you are unable to rent or buy because property costs are rising as demand exceeds supply, have a son or daughter priced out of the city, or live next-door to an ‘airbnb’ party house, many people in York are being impacted by this unlicensed, unregulated trade.”

The MP says businesses can’t recruit staff and the NHS and care sectors are suffering as there is nowhere for staff to live.

“This exploitation of housing for personal gain is extracting homes from those who desperately need them,” she said.

The MP says that, at the moment - unlike B&Bs or hotels, Short Term Holiday Lets are unregulated.

“They don’t need safety certificates, energy efficiency measures and owners don’t pay Council Tax as they benefit from Small Business Rate relief.”

She says her Bill calls for ‘short term let’ properties to be licensed and fully regulated.

If it became law, her Bill would also allow local authorities to set up control zones to limit the expansion of holiday lets where housing is under pressure. “It would also give Councils new powers to close down Short Term Lets that are causing a repeated nuisance to local residents,” she said.