Airbnb: Holiday homes face new safety licensing rules

Legislation is expected to be introduced to the Senedd before the end of the year

All holiday homes in Wales will have to be registered and licensed as restrictions on them continue to tighten.

Legislation is expected to be introduced to the Senedd before the end of the year.

The Welsh government said it wanted the new rules to improve visitors' experiences and improve safety.

It would do this by ensuring those letting accommodation met a set of standards.

It would also mean there was, for the first time, a register of all visitor accommodation available across Wales, including details on who was operating it, where and how.

It added that the move followed a public consultation and a survey which found 89% of visitors considered it important the accommodation they stayed in was operating safely.

Councils have already been given powers to charge up to a 300% premium on second homes and holiday lets.

Many parts of the world have already adopted licensing, certification or registration schemes across their visitor accommodation sectors.

Northern Ireland has had a scheme in place since 1992, while Scotland recently introduced a licensing scheme for short-term lets and the UK government is also pursuing a registration approach for short term-lets.

Deputy Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism Dawn Bowden said there were concerns about the impact of short-term lets on housing stock in communities.

She thanked businesses in the "visitor economy" for their resilience through "unprecedented challenges of recent years".

• BINGE-WORTHY DRAMAS: Amazing worlds and spectacular stories, all filmed in Wales

• THE CRASH DETECTIVES: Every serious incident on the road requires forensic examination