London’s 90-Night Rule, Mid-Term Lets and the Renters’ Rights Act: The 2026–27 Landlord’s Guide

London's 90-day rule (it counts nights, so it is also called the 90-night rule) allows a home in Greater London to be let for short stays of up to 90 nights per calendar year without planning permission.

If you let a London property in 2026, three sets of rules now shape what you can do: the 90-night planning limit on short stays, the Renters' Rights Act 2025 (in force since 1 May 2026), and a national short-term let register expected in 2027. Most guides cover one of these. This one explains how they fit together — and where mid-term lets sit between them. No loopholes, no wishful thinking: just how the rules actually work.

The short version

• London homes can be let short-term for up to 90 nights per calendar year without planning permission. The limit belongs to the property — Airbnb, Booking.com, direct and agency bookings all add up to one total.
• Every stay of fewer than 90 consecutive nights counts — including a two-month corporate booking. Calling it a “mid-let” does not exempt it.
• A single continuous stay of 90 nights or more by the same occupier falls outside the rule entirely: no permission needed, no allowance used. Staymo contracts these at a minimum of 91 nights, for a safety margin.
• Since 1 May 2026, a letting to a private individual who makes the property their home is an open-ended periodic tenancy — written end dates are no longer enforceable. A letting to a company works differently, and that is what makes professional mid-lets possible.
• A national short-term let register is expected to launch in England in 2027, giving councils the data to enforce the 90-night limit properly.

What is the 90-night rule?

In Greater London, using a home as “temporary sleeping accommodation” is a material change of use requiring planning permission, under section 25 of the Greater London Council (General Powers) Act 1973. Section 44 of the Deregulation Act 2015 created an exception: no permission is needed for up to 90 such nights per calendar year (1 January to 31 December), provided the person providing the accommodation is liable for council tax at the property.

Two things trip hosts up. First, the allowance belongs to the property, not the platform: 50 nights on Airbnb plus 40 booked directly uses the full 90, and switching platforms adds nothing. Airbnb automatically caps entire-home London listings at 90 booked nights a year unless you confirm planning permission — but it cannot see bookings made elsewhere, so keeping the overall count is the owner's (or their manager's) job. Second, the count starts when a guest actually stays, not when a listing goes live; empty weeks don't count, but non-consecutive bookings add up and gaps never reset the total.

Does a two-month booking use up the allowance?

Yes. This is the point most owners find surprising. The legal definition of temporary sleeping accommodation is occupation by the same person for fewer than 90 consecutive nights. A 60-night relocation stay is squarely inside that definition, so it consumes 60 nights of your annual allowance — regardless of who pays for it, what the agreement is called, or whether an employer arranged it.

One practical warning from our own bookings: the boundary is exactly 90 consecutive nights, and it is judged on what actually happens, not what the booking said. If a guest on a “90-night” booking leaves a day early, the stay becomes an 89-night one — inside the definition, and 89 nights off your allowance, retroactively. That is why Staymo contracts long stays at a minimum of 91 nights and treats the booked dates as a floor, not a target.

What is a mid-let — and what it is not

At Staymo, a mid-let is a furnished stay of one to six months: relocating families, professionals on assignment, owners between homes, insurance re-housing. Mid-lets are the natural bridge between short stays and long tenancies — but the label has no legal force. A 45-night booking is not exempt from the 90-night rule because someone called it a mid-let, and we will never tell you otherwise.

Can you get around the 90-day rule?

Equally important: the rules cannot be managed by splitting one person's long stay into a chain of monthly bookings. If the same occupier is in the property continuously, the law sees one continuous occupation — for planning and for tenancy status alike. Where we run several mid-lets in a year, they are stays by different guests. Where one guest stays longer, it is one agreement, extended openly in writing. There are only two lawful ways to host beyond 90 short-stay nights: obtain planning permission, or host genuine single stays of 90 nights or more.

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Company lets: how professional mid-lets actually work

Here is the part most guides skip, and the question sharp owners always ask: if fixed terms no longer exist, how can anyone promise a three- or six-month let that actually ends?

The answer is in section 1(1)(a) of the Housing Act 1988, which the Renters' Rights Act 2025 left unchanged: a tenancy can only be an assured tenancy if the tenant is an individual. When the tenant is a company — an employer housing a relocating employee, a relocation agency, an insurer placing a family during repairs — the letting is a common-law contractual tenancy outside the assured regime. Fixed terms remain valid, the agreed end date is enforceable, and the company cannot acquire security of tenure. The person living in the property occupies as the company's licensee, with the company answerable for the stay. The Court of Appeal confirmed decades ago (Hilton v Plustitle Ltd, 1989) that a genuine company let works even when chosen deliberately for this reason.

The crucial word is genuine. A company inserted as a paper front for an individual — the occupier's own shell, the occupier paying rent personally — will be disregarded by a court as a sham, and the occupier treated as the real tenant. At Staymo every corporate booking is verified at Companies House, rent comes only from the company's account, and each occupier signs a declaration recording their home address and the temporary purpose of the stay. Where an occupier contracts as a private individual and makes the property their home, we tell owners the truth: that letting is an assured periodic tenancy from day one, whatever the paperwork says, and the owner's decision must be made with that knowledge.

What the Renters' Rights Act changed from May 2026

Since 1 May 2026, most private lettings to individuals in England are open-ended assured periodic tenancies. Existing ASTs converted to the new system; new agreements cannot create an enforceable fixed end date; section 21 “no-fault” notices are gone. To recover possession a landlord needs a statutory ground with the correct notice — and the move-in and sale grounds generally cannot be used in the first twelve months of a tenancy, with at least four months' notice after that. Tenants can leave on two months' notice at any time. Rent in advance is capped, deposits must be protected, and rental bidding is restricted.

Two honest consequences for owners. If you need your home back on a fixed date and your occupier is a private individual, the law will not guarantee it — plan around that, or let to a corporate tenant. And a departing occupier's good intentions are not a possession right: someone who intends to stay six months is not the same as someone the law requires to leave in six months.

What's coming: the national short-term let register

England's mandatory registration scheme for short-term lets is expected to launch in 2027. Owners will register the property, pay a fee and receive a registration number required to advertise. For London this matters doubly: councils have long said the 90-night limit is hard to enforce because they cannot see where short lets are — the register is designed to close exactly that gap. Our advice: run your lettings as if every night were already visible, because soon it will be.

What happens if you break the rules?

Exceeding 90 short-stay nights without permission is a breach of planning control. The council can issue an enforcement notice, and failing to comply with one is a criminal offence carrying an unlimited fine (section 179 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990). Separately, Airbnb blocks further entire-home bookings at 90 nights, and leases, mortgages and insurance policies routinely restrict short letting — a planning allowance is not a permission slip against your own lease.

How Staymo blends short stays and mid-lets

A typical Staymo year for a London property: high-demand short stays while the 90-night allowance lasts, then one or two mid-lets of 91+ nights — corporate where the owner needs certainty — carrying the property through quieter months with no turnover gaps. The right mix depends on location, dates, your lease and mortgage terms, and how many allowance nights are left; we track the count across every channel and show it in your projections, alongside occupancy, platform charges, our fee and VAT. No booking mix guarantees income, and we won't pretend one does — but a property that never sits empty beats one priced for a peak that lasts eight weeks.

Owner's quick checklist

• Check your lease, mortgage and insurance before any letting model — planning rules are not the only constraint.
• Know your nights: all platforms and direct bookings count toward one 90-night total per calendar year.
• Treat stays under 90 consecutive nights as allowance nights, whatever the booking is called.
• For stays beyond the allowance, use genuine single lets of 91+ nights — never chained monthly bookings for the same occupier.
• If you must have the property back on a set date, let to a verified company, not a private individual.
• Tell your manager about past bookings and future plans — the count and the contract both depend on it.

FAQ

What is the 90-day holiday let rule?

It is the London rule that lets a home be used for short stays of up to 90 nights per calendar year without planning permission. Every stay of fewer than 90 consecutive nights counts towards that total, whether it is a holiday, a business trip or a two-month corporate booking. A single stay of 90 nights or more by the same occupier falls outside the rule.

Does the 90-night rule apply outside London?

No — it is specific to Greater London. Elsewhere in England there is no national night cap yet, though local planning policies, leases and insurance can still restrict short lets, and Scotland and Wales run their own licensing and registration schemes.

Do Airbnb and Booking.com nights count separately?

No. All short-stay nights at the property count toward one total, whoever took the booking.

Can I avoid the limit by switching to monthly bookings?

No. Stays under 90 consecutive nights count regardless of length or label. The only routes beyond the allowance are planning permission or genuine single stays of 90+ nights.

Can I let my flat for three months?

Yes — and if it is a single stay of 91+ nights it needs no planning permission and uses none of your allowance. Contract it properly: through a company let where you need a firm end date, or knowingly as a periodic tenancy if the occupier is a private individual.

What makes a company let safe?

Only its genuineness: a real company with a real reason to house the occupier, verified at Companies House, paying from its own account. A company used as a front for the occupier is a sham and gives no protection.

What if I exceed 90 nights?

It is a planning breach. The council can serve an enforcement notice, and ignoring one is an offence with an unlimited fine. Platforms may also block your listing.

This guide is general information for landlords, not legal advice. It reflects the law of England as we understand it in October 2026; legislation and guidance change, and your lease, mortgage and circumstances matter. Take independent legal advice before relying on any structure described here.

Sources: Greater London Council (General Powers) Act 1973, s.25 · Deregulation Act 2015, s.44 · Housing Act 1988, s.1 · Renters' Rights Act 2025 · Housing Act 2004, Pt 6 Ch 4 · Town and Country Planning Act 1990, s.179 · Hilton v Plustitle Ltd [1989] 1 WLR 149 · Street v Mountford [1985] AC 809 · GOV.UK guidance on the Renters' Rights Act and short-term lets registration.