Can I still run a short-term let in 2026 without a pile of new paperwork? The honest answer is that it depends on two things: where the property sits, and how many nights a year you let it. The rules now split sharply between London, the rest of England, Scotland and Wales, and a furnished holiday let that felt straightforward in 2019 can trip three separate regimes: a register, a licence, and planning permission.
Here is how the pieces fit together.
The 2026 registration scheme, in plain terms
The government confirmed in February 2024 that England will have a mandatory national register of short-term lets, using powers in the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 (gov.uk announcement, 19 Feb 2024). The design is light-touch: you register the property, get a registration number, and display it on your listing. It is a record, not a permission. Registering does not by itself give you the right to let, and it does not replace planning permission or a licence where those are needed.
Two points matter for planning ahead:
- The register is national and expected to cover entire-home and room lets marketed for short stays, whatever the platform.
- Timing has moved more than once. As of writing (July 2026), confirm the live start date and whether your property is in scope on the gov.uk short-term lets guidance before you rely on any date.
Alongside the register, England is introducing a new planning use class (C5) for short-term lets. In broad terms, a dwelling used as someone's only or main home sits in class C3, and a property flipped to full-time short-term letting would fall into C5. Whether you need planning permission to make that switch depends on permitted development rights and whether the council has removed them.
The 90-day rule is a London rule
The "90-day rule" gets quoted nationally, but it is specific to Greater London. Under the Deregulation Act 2015, you can let a whole London property for short stays for up to 90 nights in a calendar year without it counting as a change of use that needs planning permission. Go past 90 nights and you need planning permission for the change of use, or you are in breach. This is why Airbnb automatically caps London whole-home listings at 90 nights a year.
Outside London there is no blanket 90-night number. Instead, "materiality" and local planning rules decide whether frequent short letting has become a change of use, which is exactly the grey area the new C5 class is meant to tidy up.
Worked example: the London cap
Say you own a one-bed flat in Zone 3 and let it short-term at an average £150 a night.
| Nights let | Gross at £150/night | Planning position | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Within the cap | 90 | £13,500 | No change-of-use permission needed |
| Over the cap | 140 | £21,000 | The extra 50 nights need planning permission |
The £7,500 of extra income above the cap is not free money. Without planning consent it exposes you to enforcement, and a refused application means you cannot let those nights at all. These figures are a worked illustration, not a market rate.
When a holiday let needs planning permission
Planning is where the country splits:
- London: short lets over 90 nights a year need change-of-use permission (Deregulation Act 2015).
- Scotland, control areas: in a designated short-term let control area (Edinburgh introduced one), using a whole property for short lets is treated as change of use and needs planning permission regardless of nights.
- Rest of England: no fixed night threshold today. Once the C5 use class is live, switching a home to a dedicated short-term let may need permission where the council has issued an Article 4 direction removing the automatic right.
If your area already has high visitor numbers, assume the council is watching this closely.
When a holiday let needs a licence
A licence is separate from both the register and planning:
- Scotland: since 2023 every short-term let needs a licence from the local council before you can accept bookings (gov.scot short-term lets policy). This is mandatory and already in force. No licence, no letting.
- Wales: a statutory registration and then licensing scheme for visitor accommodation is being introduced (gov.wales). Check the current stage before your next season.
- England: the national register is a register, not a licence. But local HMO licensing can still bite if your let is arranged as shared occupation.
The pattern is clear: Scotland licenses, England registers, Wales is moving toward licensing, and London keeps its own 90-night planning cap on top.
The tax change people miss: FHL has gone
Independently of all this, the Furnished Holiday Lettings tax regime was abolished from 6 April 2025 (gov.uk). Holiday lets no longer get the old perks: full mortgage-interest deduction, capital allowances on furniture, the capital gains reliefs, and treatment as relevant earnings for pensions. From 2025-26 a holiday let is taxed broadly like any other residential let, so the Section 24 restriction (mortgage interest relieved only as a 20% basic-rate credit for individuals) now applies to it too.
Business rates versus council tax is a separate test again. In England a holiday let is rated as a business only if it was available to let for at least 140 days and actually let for at least 70 days in the previous year.
What to do before your next booking
A quick checklist:
- Locate the property. London, a Scottish control area, and Wales each carry extra rules on top of the England-wide register.
- Count your nights. In London, track the 90-night cap. Elsewhere, watch how "full-time" your use looks.
- Register when the scheme opens and display the number, checking gov.uk for the live date.
- Check for a licence in Scotland now, and in Wales before the scheme takes effect.
- Redo your tax maths for the post-FHL world, including Section 24.
This is general information, not tax or financial advice.
If you are weighing a short let against a standard assured tenancy, model both on the numbers that actually apply from 2026, occupancy, the night cap, cleaning and management costs, and tax after the FHL change, rather than the headline nightly rate.
