Mid Wales holiday let owners are being urged to take part in a government consultation
Mid Wales people are being urged to take part in a government consultation to give holiday let owners more flexibility
The Welsh Government is seeking views on two key changes to the way the rules are applied, to give the sector extra stability
The changes are allowing holiday let owners to use an average of 182 days let over several years. This means those who narrowly miss 182 days letting in the latest year would remain on non-domestic rates if they had achieved it on average over two or three previous years.
The second change would allow up to 14 days of free holidays donated to charity to count towards the 182-day target.
The consultation also asks whether councils should consider giving businesses more time to adjust, such as a 12-month grace period before they may have to pay higher council tax rates when they move from non-domestic to domestic classification.
The Welsh Labour Government’s policy to raise the occupancy threshold for self-catering holiday lets to 182 days per year was met with widespread criticism from the tourism industry and holiday let providers.
Many said the new threshold was set far too high and for many it is unachievable to hit this number of bookings per year unless you are in the ‘honey-pot’ areas of Wales.
For those unable to meet the 182-day threshold, the holiday let providers find themselves being moved into Council Tax payments and paying double because the premium for second homes is being applied.
With bills of many thousands of pounds to pay, many owners have said their business is no longer viable and they are having to sell up.
Brecon and Radnor Senedd Member James Evans has been very vocal in his criticism of Welsh Labour for introducing this 182-day occupancy policy.
In England, the occupancy threshold for business rates is just 70.
With tourism being a major part of the Mid Wales economy, this area has been hit hard by this policy change.
James Evans MS said: “I welcome these proposed changes to the holiday let occupancy rules and they will give more flexibility into the system and the proposed 12-month grace period.
“However, this is only minor tweaks to a policy that is deeply flawed. The occupancy threshold of 182 days is set far too high and this Welsh Labour policy has created a divide between us and England yet again.
“Mark Drakeford MS says ‘tourism makes an important contribution to the Welsh economy’ and ‘we work closely with tourism and hospitality businesses to help address the challenges they face’ – yet he still plans to introduce a disastrous tourism tax which will inflict yet more harm on this sector.
“I, along with the Welsh Conservatives, have pledged to cut this down to 105 days and scrap the tourism tax completely should we get into power in the Senedd in 2026.”
The consultation is open until November 20 and James urges everyone to have their say.
The consultation can be found here: https://www.gov.wales/proposed-refinements-classification-self-catering-properties-local-tax-purposes
