Southwark Council is looking into measures to crack down on short-term lets of properties through sites like Airbnb.
Cllr Mark Williams, cabinet member for regeneration and new homes, said the council was concerned that the transient nature of very short-term lets could cause problems for neighbours due to noise, potential security issues or anti-social behaviour.
The council is also concerned that short-term lets could potentially lead to the reduction the stock of housing available for longer term tenancies.
“We are doing everything we can to get homes of all types built across our borough, and whilst sites like Airbnb can help people generate some much-needed cash when they’re away on holiday, we do need to make sure that it isn’t abused and leads to problems that have happened elsewhere,” said Cllr Williams.
“The council is investigating what measures might be available to us regarding short-term lets to make sure we don’t lose much-needed housing to the growing short-term let industry and our homes are available for local people.
“We are also looking at what other councils are doing to tackle this problem.
“In the meantime our planning policy is not to permit development where there is a loss of residential floor space unless it is in a specific circumstances outlined but we will consider any application individually.”
If council tenants were to rent out their property it would be a breach of tenancy and action would be taken in these cases.
