Backers of a ban won comfortably, but the No side's best-rated arguments were not a defence of Airbnb. They were a defence of the scalpel over the axe.
The most-respected Yes case went at the economics head-on: prioritising tourist revenue over residents is “a massive market failure”, and “a local economy hollowed out of long term residents isn't sustainable”. Another Yes voter pointed to Cornwall, where locals “now have no chance of ever owning their own home”. A third thought zoning should be limited and open to legal challenge by landlords if stretched too far.
The most-respected No case was pragmatic: give local planners powers to judge each case on its merits. A second ★ argument put it more shortly: licensed and inspected, “but not banned”. Others went further, insisting that what owners do with a house “is my business” so long as it is lawful, and that the answer is simply building more homes.
That is where the sides met and parted. Several No voters conceded that control was needed, while one asked the question the Yes side only half answered: “what defines an area as short of housing?” The property-rights camp and the build-more camp, meanwhile, never engaged with the hollowed-out-community point.
The argument sits inside the wider fight over how far councils should steer private property. One voter's plea captured the No mood: “Regulated and licensed not banned.”
52 Opinions
They should be licensed and inspected but not banned.
Blanket bans are clumsy. Better to give local planners powers to deal with each case on its merits.
People can try to argue a ban cuts tourism spending and owner income, but prioritizing tourist revenue over actual communities is a massive market failure. A local economy hollowed out of long term residents isn't sustainable. The excuse that 'many lets aren't suitable for residents' just highlights how distorted the property market has become. The market is a good servant but a bad master when it prioritizes investment portfolios over homes, it must be corrected.
If I own a house what I do with it as long as it stays within the law is my business.
Banned no, planned with license sure
Owners of houses should be able to use them in any way they want. The shortage of letting accommodation is entirely because the government keeps interfering. Give tenants too many rights and owners simply stop renting them out.
We don't have a housing problem, we have an illegal occupation problem and an abuse of social services problem.
This would be used as an excuse to criminalise anyone allowing anyone else to stay in their home for any reason - a step too far in governmental oversight
No we simply need to build more properties and stop allowing as many people into the UK. Turn off the population increase tap and sort out the crisis. AirBnB and holiday let properties have their place in local areas and support tourism and trades locally.
We need less public sector interference in property markets, not more.