90 Day Rule Airbnb Westminster: Register Due March 2027

The 90 day rule for Airbnb in Westminster is really a 90-night rule, and it is stricter than most hosts assume. You can let a whole home in Westminster as short-term accommodation for up to 90 nights in a calendar year without planning permission. Night 91 is a change of use that needs permission, and Westminster City Council says it will take enforcement action against homes that go over. The count runs from 1 January to 31 December, it covers every platform added together, and it includes nights let by a previous owner earlier in the same year.

The council estimates there are at least 10,500 short-term lets in the borough. A national register for them is now due to start in March 2027, according to GOV.UK guidance reviewed on 2 October 2026.

Where the 90-night limit comes from

London has its own law on this. Under section 25 of the Greater London Council (General Powers) Act 1973, using a home in London as temporary sleeping accommodation, meaning stays of under 90 consecutive nights, counts as a material change of use that needs planning permission. Until 2015 that meant almost any whole-home holiday let in London needed permission.

The Deregulation Act 2015 added an exception, section 25A. A home in Greater London can be used for short lets without planning permission if two conditions are both met:

1. No more than 90 nights in the calendar year. The law adds up the nights of short-let use in the year, and says “it does not matter whether any previous use was by the same person”. So if you buy a flat in June that the seller had already let for 60 nights, you have 30 left until 31 December.
2. The host pays council tax on the home. For every night counted, the person providing the accommodation, or at least one of them, must be liable for council tax on the property. A company letting a flat it does not live in, with no council tax liability of its own, falls outside the exception from night one.

The same Act lets the council or the government switch the exception off for specific homes or whole areas where it is needed to protect the amenity of the locality, with the government’s consent.

Who can host in Westminster

Westminster’s short-term lets guidance says you can only let your home short-term if:

• you are the owner or tenant and liable to pay the council tax;
• you are a leaseholder whose lease does not expressly forbid subletting;
• you are a managing agent acting for the council-tax-paying owner, who keeps the responsibility; or
• you are not the council taxpayer but have planning permission to let the property.

Council leaseholders cannot short-let at all. The council says the terms of Westminster Housing leases override the 2015 Act, and it has taken leaseholders to tribunal for advertising council flats on Airbnb and Booking.com.

Before you list, the council also tells hosts to check with their insurer, their freeholder if they are a leaseholder, their mortgage lender, and their landlord if they rent. Many private Westminster leases prohibit short letting, and breaching the lease is a separate problem from planning law.

What hosts must have in place

Westminster’s guidance sets out the safety basics for any short let:

• A written risk assessment, including a fire safety check, using the government’s fire safety guidance for small paying guest accommodation.
• A gas safety certificate issued in the last 12 months, if there is gas.
• An electrical test by a registered electrician if there has been no inspection in the last five years.
• Smoke alarms and a carbon monoxide alarm.
• Fire-safe furnishings with permanently attached labels.
• Locks that allow keyless exit from escape doors and windows in a fire.

The money you make is taxable income. Since the furnished holiday let tax regime was abolished in April 2025, short-let income is taxed under the normal residential landlord rules.

How Westminster enforces the limit

The council’s short-term let team investigates homes reported for going over 90 nights or for causing disruption. Proving a breach takes evidence: the council says it will visit the property and that “this will require multiple visits”.

Separately, the council can act on the nuisance itself, whatever the night count:

• Community Protection Notice. For guests’ anti-social behaviour, the council can serve the host a notice listing steps to stop it. Breaching one is a criminal offence with a fine of up to £2,500 for an individual or £20,000 for a business.
• Closure Order. If problems continue, the council can work with the police to seek an order closing the property for up to six months.
• Noise abatement notice under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, with equipment seizure and prosecution.
• Waste fines for rubbish put out at the wrong time or place, a common short-let complaint in a borough with timed collections. Our page on Westminster bin collection times explains the rules guests break.

Airbnb applies its own cap in Greater London: once an entire-home listing reaches 90 booked nights in a calendar year, the platform blocks further bookings unless the host shows planning permission. That cap only covers Airbnb, so a host listing on several sites can stay under 90 on each and still be over the legal limit in total.

How to report a suspected breach

If you think a neighbouring flat is let for more than 90 nights a year, report it through the council’s short-term let complaints form. The council asks residents to keep a record of the date, time, duration and nature of any disturbance, which helps it build the case over several visits.

For noise from guests, use the council’s online noise complaint form; our guide to noise complaints in Westminster covers what the team can and cannot act on. If you live in a council block and suspect a short let, the council asks you to tell Westminster Housing. If you see a crime or feel in danger, call the police.

The council also suggests speaking to the host or your building manager first, since some hosts do not realise their guests are causing problems.

The national register: March 2027

The government is introducing a mandatory national registration scheme for short-term lets in England, under powers in the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023. Its guidance for self-catering hosts, reviewed on 2 October 2026, says the register is not yet in force and is “expected to begin in March 2027”. Earlier targets have slipped, so treat that date as the latest plan rather than a certainty.

Westminster has been lobbying on its design. The council wants registration per property rather than per host, regular renewal, health and safety documents, and fees on a sliding scale by the number of units. It also argues that a register alone will not stop homes being lost to holiday letting, and has called for a return to the pre-2015 position, when whole-home short lets in London needed planning permission. Separately, the government has said it will create a new planning use class for short-term lets, but no start date has been set.

Frequently asked questions

What is the 90 day rule for Airbnb in Westminster? You can let a whole home in Westminster for short stays for up to 90 nights in a calendar year without planning permission, provided the host is liable for council tax on the property. Beyond 90 nights you need planning permission, and the council can take enforcement action.

Do nights on Booking.com and Airbnb count together? Yes. The legal limit counts every night of short-let use in the calendar year, whichever platform it was booked through. Airbnb’s own automatic cap only sees Airbnb bookings.

Does the 90-night count reset if I buy the flat? No. The law says it does not matter whether earlier nights were let by the same person, so nights let by the previous owner earlier in the same calendar year count towards your 90.

Can Westminster council leaseholders use Airbnb? No. The council does not permit Westminster Housing leaseholders to short-let, and says the lease terms override the 2015 Act. It has taken leaseholders to tribunal over Airbnb and Booking.com listings.

How do I report an Airbnb breaking the 90-night rule in Westminster? Use the council’s short-term let complaints form on westminster.gov.uk, and keep a log of dates, times and the nature of any disturbance. Report noise separately through the online noise complaint form.

When does the short-term let register start? GOV.UK guidance reviewed on 2 October 2026 says the national register for England is expected to begin in March 2027. It is not yet in force.

Sources

Westminster City Council short-term lets pages (overview updated 8 October 2026, the law, residents, landlords, and better regulation of short-term lets); Greater London Council (General Powers) Act 1973 sections 25 to 25B as amended by section 44 of the Deregulation Act 2015, on legislation.gov.uk; GOV.UK guidance on letting out a self-catering holiday home in England, reviewed 2 October 2026. Checked 12 October 2026.