Thank you for your email. I regret that I was unable to attend the Westminster Hall debate.
Holiday lets contribute to the economy, create jobs, and support tourism. I assure you that I back small businesses, including responsible short-term holiday letting, which I recognise brings significant investment to local communities. At the same time, it is important to acknowledge the impact that large numbers of holiday lets concentrated in an area can have on local communities.
The Government has published draft legislation to abolish the furnished holiday lettings tax regime from April 2025. As I understand it, the intention is to align the tax rules for furnished holiday lettings with those for other property businesses. While I understand your concerns, I believe it would be an important step to level the playing field between short-term and long-term lets and support people to live in their local area.
I appreciate that my position will not please everyone, but I hope I have explained why I support the abolition of the furnished holiday lettings tax regime. Nonetheless, it is important that the Government is aware of the range of views on this matter. I would be happy to convey your concerns to Ministers.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.