When does a holiday let need planning permission?

Planning law does not control lettings. It controls the use of land. So the question is never how many nights you let, it is whether what you are doing amounts to a material change of use from a dwellinghouse.

A dwellinghouse sits in use class C3. Letting it occasionally while you are away, or renting a room while you live there, does not normally change that. Running it as a continuous commercial letting operation, with regular changeovers, constant turnover of guests and the associated comings and goings, can.

Councils weigh this as a matter of fact and degree. The things that move the needle are how often the property is let, how many guests at a time, how much of the year it operates, and the effect on neighbours in terms of noise, refuse and parking. A cottage let for twelve weeks a summer sits in a very different place from a flat turning over every two nights all year.

There is no national threshold in England outside London. Anyone quoting you a fixed number of nights for the whole country is describing a rule that does not exist.

The London 90 night rule

Greater London is the exception. You can let an entire property on a short term basis for up to 90 nights in a calendar year without planning permission. Go beyond that and you need permission for a change of use.

The rule comes from section 25 of the Greater London Council (General Powers) Act 1973, as amended by the Deregulation Act 2015. It applies to entire home lets, not to letting a room while you are in residence.

Booking platforms enforce the cap on their own listings, but the legal duty is yours across every channel combined. Ninety nights on one platform plus forty on another is one hundred and thirty nights, not two separate allowances.

We cover the detail, the exemptions and how boroughs enforce it in our guide to the London 90 day rule.

Article 4 directions and why your neighbour's rules may differ

Permitted development rights let you make certain changes without applying for permission. An Article 4 direction removes those rights in a defined area.

Councils use them to take back control where short term letting, or conversion to houses in multiple occupation, is concentrated enough to cause problems. The effect is geographic and it can be narrow. A direction may cover a few streets, a ward, or an entire district. Two properties a hundred metres apart can sit under different rules.

Article 4 does not make a use unlawful. It removes the automatic right, so the change of use needs a planning application that the council then decides on its merits.

Check the direction before you buy or convert, not after. Your local planning authority publishes the ones in force in its area, and the boundaries are the part people get wrong.

Where the C5 use class actually stands

This is the most commonly misreported point in the sector, so it is worth being precise.

The government consulted in 2023 on creating a new C5 use class for short term lets, alongside permitted development rights allowing movement between C3 and C5. In February 2024 it confirmed an intention to introduce it. Since then, no statutory instrument introducing C5 in England has been laid.

A widely repeated claim attributes C5 to SI 2024/579. That instrument is the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development etc.) (England) (Amendment) Order 2024. It does not create a C5 use class.

Separately, a C7 designation was discussed in the House of Lords during the passage of the Renters' Rights Bill. Neither C5 nor C7 has been added to the Use Classes Order in England.

Wales is different. Wales introduced its own short term let use classes in 2022, so guidance written about Wales does not describe the English position.

The practical consequence for an English owner is that you are still assessed against the existing material change of use test. Plan for C5 arriving, but do not act as though it already has.

The 10 year rule and certificates of lawfulness

If a property has been used continuously as a holiday let for 10 years and the council has taken no enforcement action in that time, the use can become immune from enforcement and therefore lawful.

The 10 year figure matters because it changed. The Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023 moved most operational breaches from a four year limit to a ten year limit, so older guidance quoting four years is out of date for these purposes.

Once the period has run, you can apply for a Certificate of Lawfulness of Existing Use or Development, usually shortened to CLEUD. That certificate is what a lender, an insurer or a buyer will want to see. It is evidence, not a formality.

Two limits are worth understanding. The evidence has to show continuous and specific use for the full period, and gaps undermine it. And lawful holiday let status does not hand back full C3 residential rights.

Registration is separate from planning

These two are constantly confused. Registering a property does not make an unlawful use lawful, and a council can pursue planning enforcement against a registered property.

England's national short term let register is not yet live. The power to create it sits in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023. An April 2026 target came and went. On 3 September 2026 the Culture Secretary told Parliament the scheme will be fully operational by March 2027.

Scotland already runs a mandatory licensing regime. Wales is implementing a visitor accommodation register. England is the one still waiting.

For the registration and licensing detail, including safety duties, see our guide to the short term let licence in England.

What happens if you get it wrong

Planning enforcement usually starts with a complaint, most often from a neighbour.

The council investigates and can issue an enforcement notice requiring the use to stop. You can appeal, and you can apply for retrospective permission, but neither is a formality and both take time. Continuing in breach of a notice is a criminal offence.

The commercial risk lands before any of that. An unresolved enforcement matter shows up on searches, complicates a sale, and can affect a mortgage or an insurance position. Lenders on holiday let products routinely ask about planning status.

If you are unsure whether your use needs permission, applying for a certificate of lawfulness of proposed use is the low risk route. You get a determination without waiting for a complaint to force the question.

What to check before you convert

• Whether your property sits inside an Article 4 direction, and where the boundary runs.
• Whether the council has adopted a local policy on short term lets, which many tourist areas now have.
• Whether you are in Greater London and therefore subject to the 90 night cap.
• What your lease says. Leasehold flats frequently prohibit short term letting outright, and planning permission does not override a covenant.
• What your mortgage allows. Standard residential products usually prohibit commercial short letting without consent.
• Whether your insurance covers paying guests. Most home policies do not.
• Building regulations, which are separate from planning and cover fire safety, escape routes and means of warning.

This is general information, not legal advice. Planning is decided locally and the answer genuinely varies by council, so check with your local planning authority before you commit.