Short-Let Rules: Planning, Licensing and Insurance

The 90-day question, registration schemes and correct cover

Serviced accommodation does not sit in the same legal box as ordinary letting, and this book explains the rules that decide whether you can operate at all. It covers the three sources of your right to operate: the planning system, including the 90-night limit that catches London owners by surprise, the licensing and registration schemes that now differ across the United Kingdom, and the private permissions in your mortgage and lease. You will see the agreements you are bound by, from guest terms and platform terms to damage deposits and data. The insurance and safety chapter covers cover that actually responds, fire safety, gas, electricity, furniture and water, and who counts as a guest. The tax chapter explains the end of the furnished holiday letting regime in 2025, the VAT trap for ambitious owners, business rates or council tax, and personal or company ownership. It closes with a compliance checklist and the real cost of getting it wrong. Next in this series: “A Portfolio of Short-Lets”.

What’s inside

• The legal framework in plain English
• Permissions, licensing and planning
• The contracts, and what must be inside them
• Insurance, safety and your legal duties
• Tax treatment and choosing a structure
• Your compliance checklist
• Getting this wrong: what it actually costs

Educational material only, not financial, legal or tax advice. Results are not typical and are not a guarantee of income. Freedom Property Academy LTD, registered in England and Wales.