Registration and licensing of visitor accommodation in Wales

Our Programme for Government and Co-operation Agreement with Plaid Cymru include our commitment to introduce a statutory licensing scheme for holiday lets. 

The scheme aims to: 

• support tourism and local communities, helping to preserve Wales’ natural environment for future generations to enjoy
• address the negative impact second homes and short-term holiday lets can have on communities.

We previously consulted on a statutory licensing scheme for visitor accommodation in Wales. The Welsh Revenue Authority has also carried out research about how the visitor levy will work. This has shown that a registration system is needed. This informed our decision to include a national register of all those providing visitor accommodation in Wales within the visitor levy bill. 

Regulation of visitor accommodation in Wales will be carried out in phases. The first being registration of anyone who provides visitor accommodation in Wales. Details of the registration scheme are proposed in the Visitor Accommodation (Register and Levy) Etc. (Wales) Bill, which was introduced to the Senedd on 25 November.

The register of visitor accommodation providers will tell us who is operating in the sector and support the collection of the visitor levy. The visitor levy will be a small charge paid by people staying overnight in visitor accommodation. 

The register will also provide valuable data to inform future tourism development and future phases for regulating visitor accommodation.

We will introduce further legislation to move towards a statutory licensing scheme. This will enable visitor accommodation providers to demonstrate how their accommodation meets certain conditions. 

Further information about the regulation of visitor accommodation bill will follow in due course. In the meantime, support will be available to accommodation providers throughout the registration process.

We held a public consultation on the proposed scheme: Statutory licensing scheme for all visitor accommodation providers in Wales.

We held further consultation events in spring 2023 across Wales. These focused on specific elements of the scheme. Attendees represented national, regional and local tourism associations as well as representatives from:

• local authorities
• online travel agents
• farming and countryside unions and associations
• self-catering agencies.

The Statutory licensing scheme for visitor accommodation providers: views of consumers and residents report presents survey results of some of the scheme’s proposals.

We will continue to engage with accommodation providers and other tourism stakeholders as we progress these proposals. Read our letter to the Visitor Economy Forum for further information: Open letter to members of the Visitor Economy Forum

Announcements about the scheme will be made via the Visit Wales industry newsletters and bulletins. 

For further information please email: StatutoryLicensing@gov.wales