Can this property legally be let as a short let?

The fear

A flat bought on holiday let income, and then a letter from the council saying the letting needs planning permission it will never get.

A short let can be a change of use. In London it is, past 90 nights a year. Elsewhere a council can take the right away with one direction. The mortgage, the insurance and the lease can each say no as well. All of that is on the public record before you buy. Most buyers never look.

What the £19.99 report holds

One PDF. Every finding with its source and the date it was read.

• Whether the London 90 night rule applies to this address, and what it means
• Every Article 4 direction mapped over this address, with the council and the reference
• Whether the address sits in a conservation area, from the same data
• The licence position in Scotland and Wales, with the council route where one exists
• What to do next, who to ask at the council, and what a Certificate of Lawfulness is
• A dated PDF with the source and the date beside every finding

This is not a government website. StayAudit is run by a private company and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or authorised by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, any council, or any other public body. We charge £19.99 for our own service, which finds, checks and explains the public records listed on this page and delivers them as a report. You can get the underlying records yourself from the official source at https://www.planning.data.gov.uk/, where they are free.

Coverage, said plainly

Article 4 data covers England and only the councils that have published. Scotland and Wales get their national licence rules. Northern Ireland is not covered.

Every section of the report says one of three things. Checked, with the source and the date. Could not be checked, with the reason and what you can do instead. Or does not apply here, with the reason. A report never prints a blank.

How it works

• A postcodeWe look it up on the server. Nothing runs in your browser.
• The free lookThe verdict and the one figure that matters, with the source and the date. Free means free.
• The reportPay by card. The PDF is on screen at once and in your email. Nothing is charged until you tick the box.

What we are not

We are not a council, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government or any part of government. A council decides whether a use needs permission. We read what the council and the law publish, check it, explain it and give it to you as a report. You can read the same records yourself, free, at the links on every page.