The Welsh government has launched a consultation aimed at softening its holiday let rules.  

Under current rules, self-catering holiday lets must be available for 252 days and actually let for 182 days each year to pay non-domestic rates instead of council tax.  

Cardiff says these regulations, introduced in April 2023, “were brought in to ensure property owners make a fair contribution to their local community”. 

But now the administration will seek views on two key changes to give these rules “more flexibility and extra stability”. 

The consultation, which runs until 20 November, covers: 

• Allowing holiday let owners to use an average of 182 days let over several years. This means those who narrowly miss 182 days letting in the latest year would remain on non-domestic rates if they had achieved it on average over two or three previous years 

• Allowing up to 14 days of free holidays donated to charity to count towards the 182-day target 

The consultation also asks whether councils should consider giving businesses more time to adjust, such as a 12-month grace period, before they may have to pay higher council tax rates when they move from non-domestic to domestic classification. 

The proportion of second homes and holiday lets in Wales has long been a focus of debate in the Principality, which it is argued drives up house prices, particularly for first-time buyers. 

But others argue that these homes bring in valuable tourist income. 

There are around 100,000 second homes in Wales, according to the 2021 Census. Of these, nearly 40,000 were another parent or guardian’s address, 24,000 were students’ homes and 10,070 were holiday homes. 

The average house price in Wales was £238,098 in the second quarter of this year, up 0.7% year-on-year and just 4.6% below its peak of £249,000 in 2022, according to the Wales House Price Index from Principality Building Society.

Welsh tourism accounted for 11.8%, or 159,000, of the nation’s workers in 2022, up from 11.3% in 2020. 

Welsh government cabinet secretary for finance and Welsh language Mark Drakeford says: “We work closely with tourism and hospitality businesses to help address the challenges they face, while ensuring everyone makes a fair contribution towards local economies and funding public services. 

“While most holiday let owners are already meeting the new rules brought in from 2023, with 60% of properties meeting the letting criteria, we have listened to those working in the sector and are proposing small changes to the current rules to support them.”