28/02/2025
Retrospectively Applied Law
Many people may be aware of the 182 days let rule here in Wales for Self Catering Holiday Let accommodation, which was introduced in April 2023....
However the Welsh Government actually introduced it a year earlier, by saying that the previous year 2022/23 had to meet the same criteria before it was passed into law...
Yes the small print confirms it as copied below, but this was publicised in the same way that reminds me of Douglas Adams and 'the Hitch hikers Guide to the Galaxy', as in it was at the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying beware of the leopard.
The VOA are now no doubt very busy writing off the status of most SCHLs with the HMRC/Councils.
"Responses to the technical consultation did not raise any issues of technical clarity that are considered to require amendment of the draft legislation. I am today confirming that the Welsh Government will proceed with the legislation as drafted and consulted upon. The Order will come into force on 14 June 2022 and have practical effect from 1 April 2023, applying the amended criteria from that day onwards. Property owners intending to meet the amended criteria should aim to do so during the 2022-23 operating year, but compliance with the criteria will not be assessed until after 1 April 2023."
