By the Unity Stays directors, Marcus Chong & Gadir Al-Khatib · Last updated 12 August 2026
In short: You can short-let a whole London property for up to 90 nights per calendar year without planning permission; beyond that, change-of-use permission is required and Airbnb caps listings automatically. The limit is per property and resets in January. Stays of 90 nights or more to a single occupier fall outside it, so workable models mix short lets with medium-term stays.
Where the rule comes from
Under the Greater London Council (General Powers) Act 1973, as amended by the Deregulation Act 2015, letting a whole residential property in Greater London on short lets for up to 90 nights in a calendar year does not amount to a material change of use.
Beyond 90 nights, it does — and planning permission for change of use is required. Permission is possible but far from routine, and boroughs vary widely in how they treat applications.
The limit is per property per calendar year, and it resets in January rather than rolling.
The platforms enforce it automatically
Airbnb caps entire-home listings in Greater London at 90 nights per calendar year unless the host can evidence planning permission. The listing simply stops accepting bookings once the cap is reached.
That is worth understanding as a feature rather than an obstacle. It removes the temptation to overrun, and it means the constraint is visible in the calendar rather than discovered by enforcement.
It also means a London plan built on 200 nights of short letting is not merely risky — it is not executable on the main platform.
What falls outside the 90 nights
This is where a workable London model actually lives.
Stays of 90 nights or more to a single occupier fall outside the short-let restriction, because they are not short-term letting. A single three-month corporate or relocation booking is one arrangement, not ninety nights of short lets.
That is why most serious London operations run a mix: short lets through the peak months up to the cap, and medium-term stays — corporate, relocation, insurance placements, contractors — for the rest of the year.
It is a different business from pure short letting, with different marketing, different guests and a different cost base. It is also considerably more stable.
The other London checks
The 90-night rule is the headline, and it is not the only constraint.
The lease, because a very large share of London stock is leasehold and short-letting restrictions are common — often prohibited outright in purpose-built blocks. The mortgage, because buy-to-let conditions are written around tenancies. And the borough, for any additional licensing scheme or Article 4 direction.
Complying with the 90-night rule tells you nothing about any of these. They are separate permissions and all of them have to hold.
How we run London properties
We plan the year around the cap rather than against it: short lets concentrated where nightly rates are strongest, and medium-term stays filling the rest.
That means the London question at onboarding is not "what will it earn per night" but "what mix will it run". A property that suits corporate demand — near a station, near a hospital, with somewhere to work — is worth considerably more in this model than one that only photographs well.
Our London borough pages — Camden, Hackney, Islington, Greenwich, Croydon and the rest — each state the 90-night rule rather than leaving an owner to find it.
A plain summary of a planning restriction, not legal advice. The position depends on the property and the borough. Confirm with the local planning authority.