March 2024
What happens next: What changing regulations will mean for holiday let owners in 2024
New regulations around how holiday let owners will operate their businesses have recently been announced by the Westminster government. The speculation and debate around the changes has filled the comment pages for a long time now so this recent announcement (February 2024) has offered some – but not all – the clarity holiday homeowners need. Here is Bloom Stays’ guide to the new landscape in letting and what it could mean.
What’s changing in holiday letting in 2024 and why?
The changes announced by the joint government departments (DCMS and DLUHC) recently concern a new registration system and the requirement of planning permission granted by local councils for all new holiday lets in England from ‘summer 2024’. No actual date has been stipulated from when these changes will take place.
Since the Covid 19 pandemic, there has been a huge number of new properties coming on the market across the UK. Local councils have been under some pressure now to map out where those properties are, their numbers and density. This new system of registration will require homeowners to acquire a registration number and some councils may require them to apply for planning permission for a change of use of the property from (for example) a residential property to a holiday let.
Bloom Stays welcomes this new regulation and registration scheme as it will potentially improve the whole holiday letting industry for tourists and guests. As we understand it, to be registered all holiday let owners will be required to prove that their property meets all the necessary safety requirements a move that should formalise what has been a pretty informal process until now.
I am really interested in holiday letting a property this year. What does this mean for me now?
As we don’t yet know when the registration scheme will launch, predicting when these changes will happen is tricky. However, as you’d expect, we’re a member of our industry-representing Association, PASC (Professional Association of Self Catering) and they predict that Councils are more likely to be given the right to levy planning permission fees before the registration scheme comes into view.
As far as we know to date, councils will be given the right to charge a planning permission fee for the change of use from a residential to a holiday let property. They don’t have to implement this change (some may not) so it will be worth checking if the council covering your holiday let is taking this up.
Inevitably the registration scheme will take longer to implement as it will require some online investment, training and awareness raising from the central government.
So where does this leave you? We would advise pushing ahead with your plans to start holiday letting regardless of these impending industry changes. Through our careful ‘hand holding’ consultancy we offer to any new owner joining Bloom Stays, we can talk you through exactly how to launch your property, what you’ll need to do and how to meet every current legal requirement. Our market knowledge is second to none so please don’t hesitate to contact us if you’re considering holiday letting at any point.
How will Bloom Stays help me navigate this new process?
We’ll keep reviewing our processes as we learn more about the registration process and the planning permission requirements. As they become clearer we’ll know how best to support new owners through this process.
As the leading self-catering agency in Kent Bloom Stays can help speed up the process of getting a holiday let property up and running. Our expertise and experience means we can advise on every aspect of letting from fire safety to hot tubs, renovation of our buildings to tax requirements. If you are keen to get a property listed with us before these new regulations become legal requirements then we’re happy to help you move quickly towards your goal.
Will this have any benefits for the self-catering market in Kent?
We think we’re quite lucky here in Kent and Sussex as an over-supply of holiday lets is not the problem that it reportedly is elsewhere in the UK and we have a balanced picture when it comes to tourism.
Obviously, there’s no denying the popularity of holiday letting in coastal areas such as Whitstable and Broadstairs where the market is well established, but there are other areas, both coastal and rural, where holiday letting is relatively new and for now, a useful addition to the local accommodation map.
The proximity of Kent to London means our Bloom Stays guests are drawn from the capital to the garden of England for weekends or short breaks. Kent also attracts overseas visitors travelling through en route to the rest of the UK with its excellent rail, road, air and ferry links. The main benefit a robust registration scheme will have will be to formalise the letting process amongst owners and perhaps weed out those who are less attentive to the health and safety requirements already in place.
Our guests already understand that using a well-established agency such as ourselves gives peace of mind that everything has been set up properly and our reputation is based on offering houses to let that meet our already demanding standards.
If you’re unsure on any of the above and would like one of our team members to shed some light on the new regulations, give us a call on 01227903404 or email hello@bloomstays.com and our team will be happy to talk you through the new changes.
