Latest / STR Unpacked / Mayors Next Year. Everyone By 2028.
Transcript
- Ben: Good morning and welcome your short-term rental bulletin on the 13th of August. So today's story actually came out a couple of weeks ago but I think it's an incredibly important story and I also don't believe it's getting the coverage it needs so I thought I'd cover it today and that story is that England is getting a tourist tax. Not one city like we've spoken about before. All of it. So on the 31st of July the Cabinet Office published a policy paper called Rewiring the State. Buried in the fiscal devolution section is one sentence that redraws the map. The government will give all strategic authorities the ability to introduce an overnight visitor levy. Until that sentence, this was a mayor's only power. London, Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region. Now it follows a strategic authority structure and The same paper commits to every area of England having a strategic authority by the end of 2028. So this is the timeline. Taken from the document itself because the coverage has muddled it, mayors get the power next year alongside business rates retention from April 2027. All strategic authorities get the ability with local leaders setting out how much they'll spend the money by March 2028. And areas that don't want a mayor still get the levy option through a foundation strategic authority. Now, the part that I think is a little bit under reported is the power does not exist yet. It needs primary legislation and the design is unconfirmed. and the government says it will publish a white paper on this in autumn alongside the budget. When national consultation closed on the 18th of February, it proposed applying the levy to hotels, guest houses, campsites, self-catering properties and short-term rentals. So yes, you are in scope. Now, the sector has already moved. On the 13th of July, all party parliamentary group for hospitality and tourism published its inquiry findings With evidence from the PASC and the STAA, among others, it asked for a full regulatory impact assessment and a constant national framework rather than a patchwork ring-frenzed revenue and minimum 12-month inflammation period for businesses. UK hospitality wrote to the Prime Minister the next day proposing a holiday bonus instead and puts the cost of nationwide levy at 33,000 jobs and £2.2 billion of GDP. Now, these are the TraceBody's own figures modelled on a 5 % rate. So under the proposals, no authority can introduce a levy without first publishing at prospectors and consulting locally. And that is your window. and it's local, it's national. So the rate is decided long before it is announced. Thank you for watching and I'll see you tomorrow.