Do short lets invalidate insurance of entire blocks of apartments?

A politician is raising the possibility that people who live in private blocks and let out their apartments via Airbnb or other short let platforms may be invalidating the insurance for the entire block.

Swansea councillor Lynda James claims short lets invalidate flat owners' leases at a block she knew about and were not permitted under the terms of its insurance policy.

She has told a meeting in the city that the building's management company was trying to address the situation but was failing to win support from the freeholder.

Quoted on the Wales Online news website, she says: "Most of the blocks in the [Swansea] marina have covenants saying you can't do short-term lets - it invalidates the lease.”

Letting Agent Today has asked Airbnb to comment on the subject.

Councillor James also extended her criticism of short lets by claiming that Airbnb letting had proliferated in areas such as the Gower Peninsula, reducing the availability of properties for local families and creating more traffic.

Councillor David Hopkins, with responsibility for housing for Swansea Council, told the same meeting that there were no specific planning controls to prevent a home-owner renting out their property, but that the Welsh Government was looking into establishing a registration or licensing scheme for holiday accommodation operators in Wales.

The Welsh Government, he said, "feels that there are significant potential benefits" including a level playing field for professional and amateur accommodation operators and better oversight of the sector.”

You can see more details of the story here.