What discussions has the Cabinet Secretary had with the Valuation Office over a backlog in designating holiday lets, who cannot meet the 182 days threshold, as liable for a council tax premium as a second home?
An annual Service Level Agreement (SLA) between the Welsh Government and the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) is in place for the provision of local tax valuation services in Wales. The VOA has sole statutory responsibility for assessing the values of properties in Wales for local tax purposes. As the VOA is an executive agency of HMRC, it is independent of the Welsh Government.
Our SLA with the VOA includes a requirement to check the compliance of all self-catering properties classified as non-domestic at least once every two years. Properties which do not meet the criteria will be classified as domestic and listed for council tax. The VOA is expected to have completed a full round of routine checks based on the current letting criteria, which took effect on 1 April 2023, by April 2025. Officials have established monitoring arrangements for VOA delivery against the SLA.