The Welsh Government has today launched a consultation on establishing a statutory licensing scheme for all visitor accommodation providers in Wales.
The primary aim is to establish a level playing field for all visitor accommodation businesses operating in the sector. The concern around the lack of a level playing field has been a long-standing area of discussion with concerns certain parts of the sector do not meet or comply with their statutory obligations.
The Welsh Government’s Co-operation Agreement with Plaid Cymru commits to a statutory licensing scheme for holiday lets as part of a package of measures to address the negative impact second homes and short-term holiday lets can have on the availability and affordability of housing for local people in our communities.
A statutory licensing scheme could:
- provide the mechanism to address concerns on compliance
- provide a comprehensive database of exactly who is operating in the industry as it is
- currently not possible to determine how many visitor accommodation businesses there are in Wales, or in any given community;
- be a valuable tool in understanding the scale and nature of the sector.
The Consultation can be found here https://www.gov.wales/statutory-licensing-scheme-all-visitor-accommodation-providers-wales and responses are due by 17 March 2023