Holiday lets clampdown puts Tories on collision course
Michael Gove is facing opposition from fellow Conservatives in Wales who don't want restrictions on holiday homes.
New rules clamping down on holiday lets has opened a rift between Conservatives in England and Wales.
Michael Gove, the Levelling Up, Housing & Communities secretary, announced plans recently to require holiday lets in England to have planning approval.
The Government said it wants to curb high numbers of lettings pricing local people out of the market in tourist hotspots.
A consultation from the DLUHC proposes introducing planning permission for an existing home to start to be used as a short-term let.
Anti-tourism
From 1 April, all councils in Wales are now allowed to set council tax premiums on second homes and long-term empty properties at 300%.
But Welsh Conservatives, who are in opposition, don’t want any restrictions on holiday homes in Wales.
Andrew RT Davies, the party’s leader in the Welsh Assembly, described the crackdown as “anti-tourism, and anti-English policies being imposed on the Welsh tourism industry”.
He also claimed the restrictions “will lead to tourism businesses being forced to close and thousands of tourism jobs lost,” the Nation Cymru news website reported.
A tsunami driving landlords to sell up”
Janet Finch-Saunders, the shadow minister for climate change, accused the Welsh Government of being obsessed with targeting second homeowners, and claimed there will be “a tsunami driving landlords to sell up”.
She also said efforts to reduce the number of holiday homes in communities is exacerbating the shortage of private rental properties in Wales.
Prices rocket
Meanwhile, beach hut prices are rocketing up in England, according to research by digital home information pack provider Moverly.
The average asking price of a beach hut is currently £49,290, having increased by 43% in the last year.
In Dorset, the average price of a beach hut has increased by 101% to a whopping £123,524.
