If you have seen claims that Brighton & Hove City Council no longer permits new short-term lets, or that anyone starting one will automatically face enforcement action, the position is more nuanced.
There is currently no blanket ban on new short-term lets in Brighton & Hove.
But that does not mean every Airbnb or short-term let is automatically lawful from a planning perspective.
The key question is whether the character and intensity of the particular use amount to a material change from residential use.
That distinction is important for existing hosts, landlords and anyone considering entering the Brighton short-term rental market.
What are the planning rules for short-term lets in Brighton?
Short-term letting of a residential property in Brighton & Hove can remain within the C3 residential use class.
Simply advertising or letting a property on Airbnb, Booking.com or another short-term rental platform does not automatically mean that planning permission is required.
Planning permission may be needed where the way the property is being used changes its character sufficiently to amount to a material change of use.
There is no single rule saying that a certain number of bookings, guests or nights automatically takes a property outside C3.
Instead, whether a material change has occurred is a matter of fact and degree and is assessed according to the circumstances of the individual property.
Brighton & Hove City Council’s own guidance reflects this position: short-term letting can require planning permission depending on the degree to which the use of the property has changed.
Two Brighton appeals show why this distinction matters
Two Planning Inspectorate decisions involving Brighton properties demonstrate why short-term lets cannot simply be categorised as either permitted or prohibited.
In the 2024 Queens Road appeal, the application itself sought planning permission to change a C3 residential flat into a sui generis short-term holiday let.
The question for the inspector was therefore whether that acknowledged change of use should receive planning permission.
The appeal was dismissed because the proposed loss of C3 residential accommodation conflicted with Policy DM2 of Brighton & Hove City Plan Part Two.
That case demonstrates the more difficult side of Brighton’s planning position: if a property has genuinely moved outside C3, obtaining permission for that change may be challenging.
However, a later Brighton case produced a very different outcome.
In the October 2025 appeal concerning Flat 14, Thomas House, Clifton Hill, an inspector quashed an enforcement notice against a property being used for short-term accommodation.
Although stays averaged around five days, the inspector concluded that the way the property was being operated had not changed its character sufficiently to amount to a material change of use.
The inspector considered factors including:
- the frequency of arrivals and departures;
- the size and capacity of the flat;
- the composition of guest groups;
- traffic and parking;
- cleaning arrangements;
- management controls;
- the likelihood of parties;
- noise and disturbance; and
- the effect on neighbouring residents.
The two appeals produced different outcomes because they involved different planning questions and different facts.
Together, they demonstrate why it is inaccurate to say that every short-term let in Brighton is automatically permitted, or automatically prohibited.
What is Brighton & Hove’s Policy DM2?
The absence of a blanket ban should not be confused with a guarantee that planning permission will be granted where a material change of use has taken place.
Policy DM2 of Brighton & Hove City Plan Part Two resists the net loss of existing C3 residential accommodation unless specified criteria are satisfied.
That matters.
If an intensive short-term letting operation has genuinely changed from residential C3 use into a different planning use, the owner could face two separate issues:
- enforcement action because the required planning permission has not been obtained; and
- difficulty obtaining retrospective planning permission because of the council’s policy protecting residential housing.
So the important distinction is not simply whether short-term letting is allowed.
It is whether the individual property’s use has remained residential in character.
Do you need planning permission for an Airbnb in Brighton?
Not automatically.
Listing a property on Airbnb or another short-term rental platform does not by itself determine its planning status.
What matters is how the property is actually being operated.
The 2025 Thomas House appeal gives a useful indication of the kinds of factors that may be relevant, including:
- how frequently guests arrive and leave;
- how many people the property accommodates;
- the types of groups using it;
- noise and disturbance;
- traffic and parking;
- cleaning and servicing;
- management arrangements; and
- the effect on neighbours.
This is why two apparently similar short-term lets can have different planning outcomes.
Not sure where your property stands?
A Performance Review looks at how a property is actually operated, not just how it is listed, and at what that means commercially.
What about C4?
C4 is not the planning use class for short-term lets.
C4 relates to small houses in multiple occupation, or HMOs.
References suggesting that short-term lets must somehow fall within “C3/C4” therefore risk confusing two separate parts of the planning system.
For short-term accommodation, the more relevant question is whether the property remains within C3 residential use or whether the character of its operation has changed sufficiently to constitute another use.
Can Brighton & Hove take enforcement action against short-term lets?
Yes.
Brighton & Hove City Council can investigate and take planning enforcement action where it considers that an unauthorised material change of use has occurred.
But an enforcement notice does not automatically follow because a property appears on Airbnb, Booking.com or another short-term letting platform.
The underlying planning question remains whether the way that particular property is being used represents a material change.
Planning enforcement is also subject to statutory time limits, but owners should be cautious about assuming that a long-running use automatically becomes immune from enforcement.
Continuity of use, the available evidence, interruptions, concealment and transitional rules can all affect the position.
Anyone intending to rely on the passage of time should therefore obtain property-specific planning advice.
What is changing for short-term lets?
The short-term rental sector is moving towards greater regulation.
On 3 September 2026, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy confirmed that England’s national registration scheme for short-term and holiday lets is intended to be fully operational by March 2027, as Propertymark reported.
The scheme is expected to be mandatory and primarily online.
However, some important operational details are still being finalised, including how the register will be administered, what information operators will need to provide and how frequently registration will be required.
The important distinction is that this is a national registration regime, not evidence that Brighton & Hove has introduced a blanket ban on short-term accommodation.
What about the proposed C5 planning use class?
The Government has previously proposed creating a dedicated planning use class for short-term lets, commonly referred to as C5.
If introduced, C5 could give local authorities a much clearer mechanism for controlling the conversion of residential properties into short-term accommodation.
However, C5 is not currently in force.
Until a new regime is introduced, the existing planning position continues to depend primarily on whether the operation of an individual property amounts to a material change from residential use.
Claims that a C5 use class has already banned or restricted new Brighton short-term lets are therefore premature.
What does this mean for Brighton short-term let owners?
The current position can be summarised fairly simply:
- Brighton & Hove has not introduced a blanket ban on new short-term lets.
- Listing a property on Airbnb or another platform does not automatically create a material change of use.
- Whether planning permission is required depends on the character and intensity of the particular operation.
- Where a material change from C3 has occurred, Policy DM2 means planning permission may be difficult to obtain.
- C4 relates to small HMOs and is not the planning category for short-term lets.
- The proposed C5 short-term-let use class is not currently in force.
- There is currently no Brighton & Hove licensing scheme, registration scheme or night cap specifically for short-term lets.
- England’s national short-term-let register is due to be operational by March 2027, although final compliance details are still emerging.
Matthew’s take
Matthew · Founder, South House
The important thing for property owners is not to fall into either extreme.
Brighton & Hove has not banned short-term lets, but that does not mean every residential property can automatically be switched to intensive short-term accommodation without creating a planning issue.
The strongest recent Brighton decision is useful precisely because it shows that planners have to look at how an individual property actually operates.
A modest, well-managed short-term letting operation may remain residential in character. The Thomas House appeal demonstrates that.
But once the nature and intensity of the operation genuinely move the property outside C3, the position becomes more difficult. Brighton & Hove’s Policy DM2 means that obtaining permission for the loss of residential accommodation can be challenging.
For owners, the sensible approach is therefore to examine the facts of the individual property rather than assuming either that planning permission is unnecessary or that enforcement is inevitable.
The direction of travel
Short-term letting is clearly moving towards greater regulation, transparency and scrutiny.
Brighton & Hove has also made clear that it wants better information and stronger tools for understanding and managing the sector.
Further planning reform may follow.
But there remains an important difference between saying:
“Short-term lets are becoming more closely regulated.”
and:
“Brighton & Hove has banned new short-term lets.”
The first is a fair description of the direction of travel.
The second is not an accurate description of the current planning position.
If you’re considering operating a short-term let in Brighton & Hove, expanding an existing portfolio or are unsure about the planning status of a particular property, get in touch with South Houseand we’ll help you understand the issues before you make a decision.