Second home tax in Wales

In 2020, the Welsh Government introduced preliminary measures to address the issue of second homes. This change granted local councils the power to increase second home council tax in Wales. At the beginning of 2022, it was reported that there were 23,974 registered second homes in Wales. The new regulations will be put in to place by the end of summer in 2022, and will introduce three new planning use classes: a primary home, a second home and short-term holiday accommodation. The Welsh Government stated that ‘local planning authorities, where they have evidence, will be able to make amendments to the planning system to require planning permission for change of use from one class to another. They will also introduce changes to national planning policy to give local authorities the ability to control the number of second homes and holiday lets in any community’. More on this can be found here.

The decision was made to ‘ensure everyone has the opportunity to afford to live in their local community – whether that’s buying or renting a home’ with First Minister Mark Drakeford further remarking that ‘having too many holiday properties and second homes, which are empty for much of the year, does not make for healthy local communities and prices people out of the local housing market’. The announcement follows the news that second home and holiday let owners all over the UK could soon face restrictions, as part of plans being drawn up by the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Michael Gove. At the recent Short Stay Summit, Tourism Minister Nigel Huddleston said: ‘while no decisions have been taken, this review will help us work out the options to look at so we can protect our much-loved communities and thriving holiday industry’. We recently outlined the current controls already in place in Edinburgh and you can keep up to date with the TravelNest blog for further short-term rental restriction guidelines.

The planned changes may affect those who run second homes as a holiday rental in Wales. TravelNest aims to help vacation rental owners by offering up to date industry insights and expert advice which gets hosts fully booked. Sign up for free and advertise your holiday home across 30 different top booking sites, and allow us to take the stress out of hosting.