"Good news for York" as tax break for holiday let landlords is abolished

On March 6, Jeremy Hunt, the Chancellor, announced the abolition of the furnished holiday lettings (FHL) tax regime from April 2025 for landlords who rent out short-term furnished holiday properties.

The relief gives tax breaks on the costs incurred from furnished holiday lets.

Rachael Maskell, MP for York Central, has been campaigning for tougher restrictions on short-term lets.

“I’m pleased to see my campaign to crack down on the holiday lets industry paying off with the Chancellor announcing the end of tax breaks for holiday-let investors,” she said.

"Today there will be headlines, tomorrow reality will hit, but people won’t forget these last 14 squandered years.

“With the general election on the horizon and the prospect of an economic reset with Labour, we can be assured that a Labour government will focus on our common purpose for the common good."

Coun Claire Douglas, leader of the City of York Council, said: “The abolition of the furnished holiday lettings tax regime is some good news for York, although there is far more that needs to be done to halt the loss of family housing to the holiday lets market.”

It follows other changes to short-term lets by the government, including requiring planning permission for future short-term lets.

Further changes part of that government announcement received mixed reviews from Coun Michael Pavlovic, the City of York Council's housing and planning executive.

“Overall these changes make it far from easy for local councils to gain control over the concentration of short-term lets," he said.

"The government’s creation of permitted development rights – rights that will allow a switch from residential home to short-term let – is exactly what we were hoping the government would control rather than facilitate.

"The process to remove these rights and have councils decide based on local factors will be arduous and long.

“By that time York could have lost hundreds more family homes to the short-term let market.

"We also have concerns about enforcement capacity in challenging landlords who exceed the 90-day maximum letting period where they have no short-term let planning permission."