Wales

In force. From 1 Oct 2026, anyone taking bookings of 31 nights or less must register with the Welsh Revenue Authority by 31 Mar 2027. Registration is free and applies even where no levy exists.

Council-by-council. £1.30 per person per night (75p for hostels, dorms and tent pitches). The earliest start is 1 Apr 2027. Cardiff starts 1 Apr 2027. Councils must give 12 months' notice. Isle of Anglesey decided on 24 Sep 2026 not to introduce a levy at present, and Conwy deferred any decision the same day. Gwynedd says it has not decided yet. GOV.WALES lists Cardiff as the only council charging the levy and no councils currently consulting.

Legislated, not in force. A licensing scheme for self-contained self-catering lets is set up by the Development of Tourism and Regulation of Visitor Accommodation (Wales) Act 2026 (Royal Assent 27 Apr 2026). Licences will be granted by the Welsh Ministers. Its legal default commencement is 4 Mar 2030 (GOV.WALES: March 2030), with consultation on regulations first; fees are not set yet.

In force (verified). To be rated as a business, a let must have been available commercially for at least 252 nights and actually let for at least 182 nights in a 12-month period, and you must intend to make it available for 252 nights in the next 12 months. Stays over 28 nights don't count towards the 182, but those nights can count towards the 252 available nights if the property could have been booked for 28 nights or less (GOV.UK guidance, corrected 9 Oct 2026). From 1 Apr 2026 (Non-Domestic Rating (Amendment of Definition of Domestic Property) (Wales) Order 2026, WSI 2026/7) you can meet the 182 nights as an average over the previous 2 or 3 years, and up to 14 nights a year donated to a registered charity count. Otherwise council tax applies, and councils can charge a second-home premium of up to 300% of the standard council tax (cap raised from 100% for 2023-24 onwards by WSI 2022/370; each council decides whether to charge one and at what level, and statutory exceptions apply).

Consultation closed 30 Oct 2026, outcome awaited. The Welsh Government consulted (31 Jul to 30 Oct 2026) on the criteria for classifying self-catering properties for local tax, including whether the 182-day letting threshold is right and 5 proposed exemptions (properties that are part of a wider business, large multi-unit properties, properties with a relevant planning restriction, properties within the curtilage of the owner's home, and properties on the owner's farm). The deadline was extended from 23 Oct after the form closed early. The consultation has now closed and GOV.WALES says responses are being reviewed and the outcome will be published once complete. Nothing has changed yet, so the current rules still apply. We'll update this when the outcome is published.

In force. Since Oct 2022 Wales has use classes C3 (main home), C5 (second home) and C6 (short-term let). Changes between them are permitted development unless an Article 4 direction applies.