What public rules cover short-term rentals in London?
The short-term accommodation rules of the City's Business Licensing By-law, as explained on its short-term accommodation licensing page.
Sources checked October 28, 2026
The rule in London
- A licence, permit or registration is needed
- Only a home someone lives in
London: short-term accommodations of 28 days or less need a City licence and must be at the host's resident address, with one rental per provider from 1 October 2026; a 4% Municipal Accommodation Tax applies.
From London, checked 28 Oct 2026
- The recordShort-term rentals
- Where to read itShort-term accommodation licensing
- The free check reads itPick “Rental and short-term rental rules”
What the record shows
The City defines short-term accommodations as homes or rooms rented for stays of 28 days or less, and a host needs a Short-term Accommodation Provider licence. The rental must be at the host's resident address, or within a unit at that address, which the page calls the principal residence, and an unhosted rental may offer no more than five bedrooms. Starting October 1, 2026, each provider is limited to one short-term accommodation, one provider licence and one ownership interest in a dwelling unit used as one.
As of March 31, 2026, every short-term accommodation must pass a Property Standards Inspection and a Fire Safety Inspection. A new provider licence costs $552, including a one-time $351 inspection fee, and $201 a year after that, and providers submit a 4% (plus HST) Municipal Accommodation Tax on each stay. The platforms that advertise and broker rentals have separate licensing requirements. The by-law is the public rule; the City's page has a tool to confirm whether a given property is licensed.
Where to read it yourself
- Short-term accommodation licensing: the City's page: definition, residence rule, the October 2026 limit, inspections, fees and tax
What OfferDue covers in London
Rental and short-term rental rules is in the free check as a summary of the City's by-law, from our hand-kept table, linked to the City's page. The full report adds the home-business rule. Neither confirms a licence for a given home.
Free check: pick “Rental and short-term rental rules” See the sample report
Public-record information, not legal, financial, insurance or inspection advice. Records change and can be incomplete, and this page describes the records, not any particular home. What we cover, city by city.