Council officials in Bath are grappling with an escalating waste management issue linked to holiday lets, yet the exact number of these properties remains unknown. Despite Bath and North East Somerset’s status as a popular tourist hotspot facing a pressing housing crisis, there is no centralized registry of holiday lets in the city.
Lisa Gore, the council’s Waste Strategy Manager, revealed to a scrutiny panel on July 9 that street cleaning teams must identify holiday lets individually, going street by street. “As they are identified, the team conducts detailed research to determine if these properties pay business rates or council tax, contacting letting agencies when necessary,” Gore explained. “This process demands significant effort.”
The panel was reviewing the initial six months of the council’s recently introduced evening business waste regulations. These rules require business waste to be placed in gull-proof sacks and only put out after 6pm. When questioned about extending these regulations to holiday lets, Council Cabinet Member Ian Halsall acknowledged the ongoing debate: “There’s a question of whether holiday lets should be registered as businesses and charged accordingly. It’s certainly an issue under consideration.”
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Halsall noted that council interventions vary based on circumstances; some holiday lets have faced fixed penalty notices for improper waste disposal, while others receive polite reminders advising guests to adhere to collection schedules. He further emphasized the council’s advocacy for a national holiday let register, citing the 1,850 holiday lets listed on Airbnb in the greater Bath area alone.
Regarding the new waste rules for businesses, 41 fines have been issued over six months since the October implementation. Initially, breaches were common: in the first week, 61 businesses placed waste without identification, and 43 put out bins too early. By week seven, such incidents dropped to just one each.
The 6pm bin placement requirement proved controversial, especially for shops that previously set out waste at 5pm. The council’s analysis warned that shops closing at 5pm might incur over £3,000 annually in extra wages to comply with the new hour. Among those fined were two businesses that had formally objected to the policy.
Approximately 1,126 businesses in central Bath are affected by these regulations. Prior to the policy’s introduction, 80 businesses registered objections, and since implementation, 21 have lodged complaints with the council.