Holiday lets, undoubtedly, contribute to the economy, create jobs, and support tourism. I assure you that I back small businesses, including responsible short-term holiday letting, which I recognise brings significant investment to local communities. At the same time, it is important to acknowledge the impact that large numbers of holiday lets concentrated in an area can have on local communities. We all want to avoid the hollowing out of communities, address anti-social behaviour and ensure local people can continue to live in the place they call home.
I support creating a registration scheme for short-term lets, and I am pleased that the last Government passed the necessary legislation to start the process. The new Labour Government has said it is working on how to implement this. I believe a registration scheme that makes it easier for local authorities to take action against problematic short-term lets will not only respond to concerns raised by communities, but will also benefit the sector as a whole by drawing enforcement action to unscrupulous short-term lets.
Draft legislation to abolish the furnished holiday lettings tax regime from April 2025 has been published. As I understand it, the intention is to align the tax rules for furnished holiday lettings with those for other property businesses. Income and gains from a furnished holiday let will then form part of the person’s UK or overseas property business and be treated in line with all other property income and gains. While I understand your concerns, I believe it would be an important step to level the playing field between short-term and long-term lets and support people to live in their local area.
I appreciate that my position will not please everyone, but I hope I have explained why I support the abolition of the furnished holiday lettings tax regime. Nonetheless, it is important that the Government is aware of the range of views on this matter and I will continue to press the new Government to ensure every effort is made to listen to concerns raised by local residents and responsible holiday lets.
