Second Homes and Short-term Holiday Lets Research for the Replacement Local Development Plan

Client: Local authority
The issue of second homes and short-term holiday lets has evolved significantly over recent years along with their associated economic impacts alongside wider impact on host communities and local services. Recent growth in the holiday home sector is largely attributed to the accessibility of online marketing websites, rise in holiday rental as a financial investment, improvements in information technology infrastructure that enables people to work remotely and the growth of the tourism industry.

A local authority planning department was starting the process of preparing the Replacement Local Development Plan (RLPD), aiming to set out the land use planning framework for a 15-year period. In order to inform the RLPD, PSC was tasked with gathering evidence on a range of related tourist accommodation aspects and the local housing market.

As part of the evidence gathering, we needed to ascertain the types of housing in the area which make up the housing market, not just short- term holiday lets and second homes but also for example the number of HMO’s and affordable housing.

An added factor behind the research was to understand changes brought about by the new Council Tax and legislation that the Welsh Government recently introduced in relation to second homes and short-term holiday lets.

Planning Solutions Consulting assisted the Council in its data analysis focusing mainly on the holiday lets element of the research. PSC also carried out a benchmarking research programme of other Councils who have experienced housing pressures caused by the holiday sector.

How can we help?
If you have any questions about our work in the holiday accommodation sector please don’t hesitate to call or email Richard Linington 07866 742628 richard@psplan.co.uk