Cllr Elizabeth Campbell is the Leader of Kensington and Chelsea Council
In Kensington and Chelsea, we know the value of a home. Not as an abstract policy argument or a bricks-and-mortar asset, but because we see every day what happens when a family does not have one they can truly call their own.
Around 1,800 households from our borough are in temporary accommodation. Many are parents trying to keep children settled at school, older people who need stability, or working families waiting for the chance to put down roots from a safe, secure home.
That is why we take social housing fraud so seriously. It is not harmless, nor a victimless offence. When someone illegally sublets a council home – including on a short-term letting platform – they are not simply bending a rule without any consequence. They are taking a scarce public asset, funded and protected for those in need, and turning it into a private income stream.
This week, we welcomed a new data-sharing agreement between the Cabinet Office and Airbnb that will allow councils – including ours – to check social housing records against Airbnb listings. Where homes are confirmed as being let without permission, listings can be removed and enforcement action can follow.
This is a significant step, and one Kensington and Chelsea has been pushing towards for a long time. We have not waited for this issue to become a national talking point and have repeatedly called for greater transparency from short-term letting platforms.
In 2022, we had to go to court to secure the payments data we needed from Airbnb in relation to suspected illegal short-term lets on two estates in North Kensington. That order helped unlock evidence for legal action, but councils should not have to fight case-by-case for information essential to protecting public housing.
So it is good to see the Government now catching up with the lobbying we have been doing – and with the practical reality councils have been dealing with for years. This agreement recognises that local authorities need timely access to the right information if we are to protect social homes properly.
Airbnb deserves credit for engaging with this national agreement. It is the right thing to do, and it should now set the standard for the rest of the sector. Other short-term let platforms should follow Airbnb’s lead, share data responsibly, and work with councils to stop social homes being misused. This cannot be a one-platform solution to a multi-platform problem.
The principle is simple: if a home is subsidised for social rent, it should be used as a home, not as a holiday let.
That principle should unite Conservatives. We believe in responsibility, fairness to the taxpayer, respect for the law, and the proper stewardship of public assets. Social housing fraud offends all of those values.
It is wrong legally, because tenants do not have the right to profit from homes provided for social need. It is wrong morally, because every fraudulently let property is one fewer home for a household in genuine need. And it is wrong practically, because residents should not have to watch their block, street or estate turned into an informal hotel.
Kensington and Chelsea is a wonderful place to visit. Tourism is an important part of our local economy and we are rightly proud of our Amazing Spaces and the borough’s world-class retail, culture and leisure offerings. But there is a real difference between visitors staying in properly managed accommodation and a churn of strangers coming in and out of residential buildings where people are raising families, caring for relatives and going about daily life.
Residents rightly worry about noise, litter, anti-social behaviour and security. They worry when they no longer recognise who is coming through the front door. These concerns go to the heart of what makes a place liveable.
Our job as a council is to hold that line. We have dedicated housing fraud investigators who are trained to spot and stop tenancy fraud, including illegal subletting. Over the past year alone, we recovered 20 fraudulently let properties. Each of those homes can now be used for someone who genuinely needs it.
We make no apology for being proactive. When the demand for social housing is so high, and when families are spending years without the certainty of a permanent home, we have a duty to act. That means investigating tip-offs, using data intelligently, taking enforcement action where the evidence supports it, and working with partners who can help us find the truth faster.
The early national results from this partnership show why that matters, with almost 500 potential cases already identified across participating councils. The national estimates are sobering too: thousands of social homes may be illegally sublet on short-term rental platforms, with each case carrying a significant cost to the taxpayer of almost £80,000.
But the cost is not only financial. The real price is paid by the family still waiting, the neighbour who feels their block is less secure, and the resident who feels the rules are being broken while everyone else does the right thing.
That is why this must be the beginning, not the end, of greater cooperation. Councils cannot protect public housing properly if the information we need is hidden from view. Transparency is the basis of accountability and platforms that profit from short-term lets have a responsibility to help prevent abuse, especially where public housing is involved.
The message from Kensington and Chelsea is straightforward. Social homes are for people who need a home. They are not for profiteering, they are not for holiday lets, and they are not a private income stream.
We will keep protecting them, recovering them, and returning them to the people and families they were meant to serve. And we will keep pressing every short-term let platform to do the right thing too.