9. The Council Tax (Long-term Empty Dwellings and Dwellings Occupied Periodically) (Wales) Regulations 2022

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:43 pm on 22 March 2022.

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Photo of James Evans James Evans Conservative 4:43, 22 March 2022

Today, I want to speak on behalf of those genuine tourism businesses that are going to be impacted by these regulations. I've been contacted by many genuine businesses that will be affected by this, with the increase in the days that they need to be let from 140 to 252. A lot of those businesses that genuinely set up their company so that people can come to Wales to enjoy our scenery, to spend money in our local areas, are very concerned that, if they do not meet the threshold for the amount of days let, their businesses will be forced to close, when those properties, which I'm sure you hope will go back on the open market, many of those are subject to planning restrictions, some of them are too big, they'll be too expensive and local people will not be able to afford them. And what I don't want to see is many businesses going bust, many businesses that can't afford to pay 300 per cent council tax, because that is what's going to happen.

When visitors come here, they are not going to have anywhere to stay. As my colleague Janet Finch-Saunders has said, this second home rhetoric has got to stop. The problem here is not second home owners, it's not people running genuine businesses, it's the Government here that have failed for years to build the houses that we need for our young people. This Government could abolish land transaction tax for young people. You could get on and build more houses. You could get rid of the phosphate regulations. But you haven't got a plan to address it. This is a typical socialist Government. The only way—[Interruption.] The only way you find of addressing problems is through tax, tax, tax. This is a tax on aspiration, it's a tax on tourism, and it's a tax against people visiting Wales. So, I suggest the Government gets on, builds more houses and puts policies in place that actually support young people to buy homes and not tax people off the face of this earth.