Westminster Conservatives have launched an industry-first data sharing agreement with Airbnb to crack down on illegal short-term lets, allowing the city council to check social housing records directly against listings for the first time. The initiative has already identified almost 2,000 potential cases of social housing fraud, with confirmed fraudulent listings facing removal and operators risking eviction, fines and up to two years in prison. Council Leader Paul Swaddle has written to all suspected illegal operators and met with senior Airbnb executives, while urging other rental platforms to adopt similar measures. The move delivers on a key Conservative pledge to ensure publicly-funded homes go to families in genuine need rather than being exploited as private cash machines, following what the party describes as years of inaction under Labour.

This article by Cllr Paul Swaddle was originally published in the Westminster Extra, and you can read it in full here.

Illegal short-term lets are a scourge

Westminster has some of the highest levels of short-term lets misuse in the country.

For years, a minority of operators have broken the rules, listing social housing on platforms like Airbnb while profiting from publicly-funded properties that should be homes for families in genuine need.

Westminster Conservatives promised to act on this.

We welcome an industry-first data sharing agreement between the cabinet office and Airbnb, and are participating to crack down on illegal short-term lets.

For the first time, the city council can check social housing records directly against Airbnb listings, identifying properties being exploited by fraudsters.

Westminster has identified just under 2,000 potential cases of social housing fraud locally.

Confirmed fraudulent listings will be removed from Airbnb, fraudsters face eviction, fines and up to two years in prison.

I have written directly to all suspected illegal short-term let operators in the borough and the message is clear: there is no hiding place.

This is an important Conservative-led first step.

I have personally met senior executives from Airbnb who recognise the seriousness of the issue and have pledged to address our concerns.

But Airbnb cannot be the only platform acting. We are calling on every other short-term rental platform to step up and follow suit.

A "City That Works for All" means homes going to the families and residents who need them most, not to fraudsters treating publicly-funded properties as private cash machines.

Westminster Conservatives will keep pushing until every illegal operator is rooted out and every home is returned to someone who genuinely needs it.

Under Labour, illegal short-term lets proliferated across Westminster with no meaningful action to stop them. That is over.

Cllr Paul Swaddle OBE
Leader
Westminster City Council