Welsh Holiday Let Registration: Upcoming Laws

Property investors must soon register and licence holiday lets under new laws signalled by the Welsh government.

Deputy Minister for Arts, Sport, and Tourism Dawn Bowden announced the measure in the Senedd and expects the scheme to come into force before the end of the year.

She told Welsh assembly members that requiring holiday operators to register their properties would be the first phase of the new measure to establish how many holiday lets are available in Wales, who owns them, and their locations.

The plan follows a consultation and survey showing that 89 per cent of visitors expect holiday let operators to ensure their properties meet decent standards and are safe to stay in.

The Welsh government will then licence properties once a nationwide database of holiday lets is completed.

Holiday let plan part of power-sharing pact

Introducing the scheme in the Senedd, Bowden said: “Tourism makes an important contribution to the Welsh economy and Welsh life, so this information will be crucial in helping us better understand the sector, as well as helping to inform future policy decisions at a local and national level.

”The visitor economy is changing rapidly, and while the growth of online booking platforms has brought many benefits, there are concerns around compliance with existing requirements and the impact of short-term lets on housing stock and our communities.

“I’d like to thank businesses across the visitor economy for the enormous resilience they’ve shown through the unprecedented challenges of recent years. The input from the sector, visitors and communities has been invaluable to our work so far. We will continue this engagement as we develop the scheme.”

The Labour Welsh government is imposing the measures as part of a power-sharing agreement with nationalists Plaid Cymru.

Plaid Cymru wants a statutory licensing scheme for holiday lets as part of a package of measures to address the perceived negative impact second homes and holiday lets can have on the availability and affordability of housing for local people.

Wales is following Northern Ireland and Scotland, which already run licensing schemes for holiday lets.

Latest blow for property investors

The plan is the latest in a raft of measures aimed at landlords and property investors in Wales, such as some councils raising council tax for second homes and holiday lets by up to 300 per cent of the standard rate.

The Welsh Assembly has also changed the definition of a holiday let to reduce the number of properties paying business rates instead of more expensive council tax.

The bar for claiming business rates lifted from having a property available to let from 140 to 252 days in any 12 months, while the number of days let to paying customers rose from 70 to 182 days.

Wales also has the Rent Smart registration and licensing scheme for buy-to-lets and shared homes.