Welsh Government asked to look again at self catering holiday rule
The Welsh Government will be asked to look again at its rule that self-catering holiday lets must be occupied for 182 nights to pay business rates.
The higher threshold was introduced in a bid to close a potential loophole where it was feared second home owners could avoid council tax, including at a premium rate, by registering for business rates when homes only had to be let for at least 70 nights to qualify.
Monmouthshire County Council’s destination manager Nicola Edwards told a council committee she believed the new figure is “too high” and warned it could hit efforts to grow the county’s tourism economy, estimated as worth £329 million last year, and potentially the council’s ability to raise funds from a proposed tourist tax.
‘Too high’
As a result its place scrutiny committee has agreed to write to the Welsh Government on the “challenges of the 182 day occupancy threshold and its impact on the tourism economy in Monmouthshire”.
Councillor Angela Sandles, the Labour-led council’s cabinet member responsible, who attended the scrutiny meeting, said she agreed the 182 day rule needed to be looked at but should be done in tandem with the Welsh Government’s proposals for registration and licensing of self-catering accommodation and holiday lettings such as Airbnb’s.
Ms Edwards told councillors the 182 threshold is “in my opinion too high” and said: “That is going to be very challenging for our self-catering accommodation providers to achieve which will in turn limit growth in our economy if those businesses don’t survive.
“It will also limit our opportunity to raise income from the visitor levy which is on overnight stays, so there is a lot to think about there.”
‘Squeezing’
Committee chair, Osbaston Conservative Jane Lucas, said the rule was “squeezing” self-catering providers.
Labour member Laura Wright said she was concerned the committee was looking at businesses that are “not viable” if they can’t hit a 50 per cent occupancy rate but Ms Edwards said some are legally prevented from operating all year round or unable to due to weather conditions such as flooding and are operating in a “depressed” market.
The Welsh Government is due to introduce a bill in the Senedd on November 25 to give local authorities the power to raise a “a small charge” on overnight stays, described as a tourism levy, if they wish. Funds would be spent to support sustainable tourism which could be projects such as restoring footpaths or maintaining public toilets.
It has also said research and consultation has shown registration is needed to support a levy and the bill will include a national register, described as the first step towards a statutory licensing scheme for visitor accommodation.
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The 182 nights occupancy rule should remain in place, in my opinion it should be higher but I am happy with 50% of the year.
The previous 70 nights occupancy rule is a joke, this is less than 20% of the year!
The problem with our substandard governance is that this decision will be governed by:
One: The politics of envy against owners for those who can’t get a free council house.
Two: Moneys that can be extracted, regardless of that fact that it will then be wasted
Free Council House? No such thing!
What do you have against secure housing at reasonable rent?
Why have you denied something that’s patently true in your first line, then try to change the issue to something completely different in your second line?
With people now being denied life saving medical treatment, maybe we should prioritise that instead of free council houses for those who decide not to get out of bed in the morning.
The campaign to secure, and now to maintain, the 182 nights occupancy rule was not led by those seeking any mythical free council housing, but by those who do not wish to see Welsh communities turned into seasonal ghost towns through the proliferation of holiday lets and second homes.
Doesn’t surprise me that the Labour Party are having the jitters on the 182 night rule to qualify for the business rate tax loophole and this call comes from Monmouthshire. This is because it’s no longer a political party that champions ordinary working people and their aspiration to get on the housing ladder. In Wales it’s affluent metropolitan Labour who own second homes. My message to them is sell your holiday home to allow others access to housing. It’s a damn cheek to hammer farmers in rural areas then whinge that a tax loophole for their country retreat is no… Read more »
Many holiday homes are not second homes – they are businesses. My holiday cottage is 10 miles from me. I’m not going to holiday in it am I? It is still governed by the 182 night rule. It’s just the same as forcing farmers to sell some of their land for affordable housing. It’s not going to happen.
Conflating holiday lets with second homes is what second homers like to do so they can pretend their lifestyle choice is tourism and argue that restrictions on second homes are anti-tourism. Where the line is blurred (some second homes are let occasionally to top up the pension) the primary purpose of the investment should be considered. Was it brought as a lifestyle choice or to run as a business.
The principle that holiday lets should be occupied most of the time to justify taking habitable properties out of use as a main home is a good one. However one possible adjustment is to allow a turnover day for each letting because it’s not realistic to have one occupier leave a property at 11am and be ready for the next at 2pm. So if let for 5 nights this should count as 6 of the 182 days.
Sorry, although I live in South Glamorgan and love Wales, I no longer “holiday” in Wales because of the tourist taxes and 20mph debacle.