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The London 90-night rule: how to count nights, which homes it covers, and what the borough can see
Sergej Sitki · founder of ReceptionGO and host
Published 27 October 2026 · 6 min read
General information, not legal or tax advice. Check your own case with your local council, HMRC or the relevant revenue authority, or an accountant.
In Greater London an entire home may be let for short stays on up to 90 nights in a calendar year without planning permission. That comes from the Deregulation Act 2015, and only if the council-tax payer is the person providing the accommodation. Past 90 nights you need the borough’s permission. A room in the home you live in is not capped.
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A flat in Hackney that is on Airbnb, Booking.com and a direct page can pass 90 nights in June while the host still thinks they are fine, because only Airbnb is counting. The London rule is a planning rule, not a platform setting. Boroughs already enforce it. The short-term let register due in 2027 will make the same nights visible in one place.
What the law actually says
Since 1973, using residential premises in Greater London as temporary sleeping accommodation has been treated as a material change of use, which needs planning permission. Section 44 of the Deregulation Act 2015 created an exception: if the total of such nights in a calendar year does not exceed 90, it is not a change of use. Two conditions sit underneath that sentence.
- The person who provides the accommodation is liable for council tax on the premises. A property that has moved to business rates, or an arrangement where someone else is the council-tax payer, does not get the 90-night allowance in the same way. If you are aiming for business rates, read the day tests before you assume the 90-night exception still fits.
- The cap is on nights, in a calendar year, from 1 January to 31 December. It is not 90 bookings, and it does not reset on the date you first listed.
Over 90 nights, you need planning permission from the London borough for temporary sleeping accommodation. Several boroughs resist that permission in blocks of flats. Getting it is a planning application, not a formality, and a refusal means the lawful short-let use stops at 90.
How to count the nights
| Counts toward 90 | Does not |
|---|---|
| Nights a paying guest occupies the whole home, on any site | Nights you or your family sleep there |
| Direct bookings and agency bookings, not only Airbnb | A cancelled stay nobody occupied |
| Each night of a week-long stay | Nights in a different tax year |
| A back-to-back turnover: checkout morning and a new guest that afternoon is still one night each | A room let while you live in the home |
The mistake is counting from one extranet. Export the nights, or keep them on one calendar, and add them up in January for the year just ended and again in June while there is still time to close dates. A channel manager is what stops the fourth site selling a night the other three have already used.
Entire home, spare room, and “I’ll just switch it off”
The allowance is for temporary sleeping accommodation of the premises. Hosts who live in the property and let a spare room are not using that allowance, and Airbnb does not apply the London cap to a private room in the same way. The lease is often the tighter rule: many London leases ban any letting under 90 days, or any letting at all, and a freeholder can enforce that whether or not the council can.
Closing the listing on 1 October does not undo the nights already let. If you are already over, the practical options are to stop, to apply for planning permission, or to take advice before the borough writes. Do not create a second listing in a partner’s name to reset the counter. The premises are what is capped, not the Airbnb account.
What changes when the register opens
England’s short-term let register is due by March 2027. It will not replace the 90-night rule. It will ask for a registration number on every listing and give councils a list of properties. Combined with the platform reports HMRC already receives, a borough that wants to check a postcode will not have to guess which site the nights were sold on. Have the count ready before the portal asks for it. The same file is what you need for planning outside London, where the question is different but the evidence is the same.
Frequently asked questions
Does the 90-night rule apply outside London?
No. It is a Greater London rule. The rest of England has no national night cap. A council can still say that full-time holiday use is a change of use and needs planning permission — that is covered in the planning guide.
Does Airbnb stop me at 90 nights?
On Airbnb, yes, for an entire home in Greater London. Booking.com, Vrbo, a cottage agency and your own website do not apply Airbnb’s cap. Nights on those sites still count toward the legal 90.
What if I live in the flat and let a room?
The 90-night limit is about providing temporary sleeping accommodation of the premises as a whole. Letting a room while the home remains your main residence is a different use, and the Deregulation Act cap is not what restricts it. Your lease or mortgage might.
Do cancelled nights count?
Count nights the property is actually used for short stays. A cancelled booking that nobody occupied is not a night of temporary sleeping accommodation. Keep the calendar, not just the payout report, because payouts arrive late and refunds reverse them.
Will the 2027 register change the rule?
The register will not replace the 90-night rule. It will make breaches easier to see, because a property number on every listing can be tied to how often it is booked. The England registration guide has the timetable.
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- Deregulation Act 2015, section 44 — short-term use of London property
- Greater London Council (General Powers) Act 1973, section 25 — temporary sleeping accommodation
- GOV.UK — Delivering a registration scheme for short-term lets
- GOV.UK — Letting out a self-catering holiday home in England
Rules last checked on 22 October 2026.