Can I Airbnb my flat or house? The permissions to check first
Often yes, but five things can stop you: your lease, your mortgage, your insurance, your tenancy if you rent, and local planning or licensing rules. Checking them first costs nothing, while getting it wrong can mean a breach of your lease or mortgage, a refused insurance claim or enforcement action.
1. Your lease (for flats)
Most flats are leasehold, and many leases restrict how the flat can be used. Look for clauses limiting use to a "private residence", banning business use, or restricting subletting or lettings of less than a set period. Courts have treated short-term letting as breaching these kinds of clauses. If in doubt, ask the freeholder or managing agent for written consent, or get a solicitor to read the lease.
2. Your mortgage
A standard residential mortgage usually assumes you live in the property. Letting it out, even occasionally, may need your lender's consent, and a whole property let full-time normally needs a holiday let mortgage. Tell your lender before you start.
3. Your insurance
Standard home insurance usually excludes paying guests. You will need holiday let insurance or a policy that specifically covers short-term letting. Platform protection such as AirCover is not a substitute.
4. If you rent your home
Most tenancy agreements do not allow subletting without the landlord's written permission. Letting your rented home on Airbnb without it can breach your tenancy.
5. Local planning and licensing
- In London, letting a whole home for more than 90 nights a year needs planning permission.
- In Scotland, you need a short-term let licence, and in control areas such as Edinburgh you may also need planning permission.
- In Wales, you must register the property. In Northern Ireland, you need Tourism NI certification.
- Letting a room in your own home is usually simpler, and you may be able to use the £7,500 Rent a Room allowance. See our Airbnb tax article.
Once you have the go-ahead, HostSorted builds the safety checklist for your property and keeps the certificates in one place.
Related guides
Official sources
This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change, so check the official sources before you act.