07/07/2022
Taken from PASC UK page - hopefully it's OK to do that?!?
🏴 More Welsh Government interventions July 4 🏴
Yesterday the Welsh Government announced further measures that will have a huge impact on the self-catering sector in Wales. This is without even working through how the 182-days will work in practice and what measures they need to agree to to limit harm to businesses.
In a single announcement the Welsh Government have announced the following:
• Changes to planning regulations by the end of the summer. These will introduce three new planning use classes – a primary home, a second home and short-term holiday accommodation. 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. We 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.
• Plans to introduce a statutory licensing scheme for all visitor accommodation, including short-term holiday lets, making it a requirement to obtain a license. This will help raise standards across the tourism industry.
• Following a consultation about varying land transaction tax locally in areas with large numbers of second homes, work will start today (Monday 4 July) with local authorities to develop a national framework so they can request increased land transaction tax rates for second homes and holiday lets to be applied in their local area.
This announcement leaves hundreds of questions unanswered, its not a Consultation, although we know how they play out, it's an announcement of intent. The timescales are off the scale, by the end of the summer (technically late September) to be able to change planning permissions is terrifying.
Businesses cannot plan with all this uncertainty. Investment plans are being put on ice all across Wales. This is just too many measures against a single sector and will do untold damage.
We are trying to find out more detail around all of this, but at the moment, we just have the press release below.
New planning laws, a statutory licensing scheme and proposals to change land transaction tax will be included in a package of measures to address second homes in Wales.
