Many holiday let owners are concerned about the impact recent and upcoming regulatory and tax changes will have on their businesses – especially in the context of other rising running costs.
Sykes Holiday Cottages conducted a survey of 500 holiday let owners to understand their attitudes to the industry and views on recent changes. Almost half (45%) of UK owners say they’ve already been affected by regulation changes, which increases to 63% of those in Wales.
Owners say rules allowing some councils to charge increased rates of council tax are most impacting their businesses, with nearly six in 10 (58%) affected by this.
A third (33%) of owners say they will be impacted by the removal of the Furnished Holiday Lettings tax regime in April. A similar number (32%) have been affected by the policy in Wales upping the minimum number of days you’re required to let your property to qualify for business rates.
What’s more, nearly three-quarters (74%) of short-term let owners believe the recently introduced Government measures risk having a significant bearing on the local economies where their holiday lets operate.
According to Sykes’ analysis, there are nearly 3.5 times as many long-term empty homes in England than holiday lets, with empty homes contributing very little to local tourism economies.
Official Government data doesn’t currently exist on the number of short-term lets within the UK. As such, Sykes has analysed AirDNA data to estimate that there are 212,500 short-term rentals throughout England – representing 0.85% of all residential properties. This compares with 719,500 long-term empty homes (based on ONS figures) and, in all regions in England, long-term empty homes outnumber holiday lets.
Sykes’ Head of Regulation and Policy, Ben Spier, adds: “Unfortunately, over the last two years, small holiday let businesses have been caught up in policies aimed at improving housing availability. We’re working hard to lobby the Government to distinguish between holiday lets, that bring tourism to the area and generate spend locally, and second and empty homes that comparatively contribute nothing.
“Instead of penalising holiday let businesses, Government focus should shift to building new homes or policy tackling the many more properties and land that lay vacant.”
To read the full Holiday Letting Outlook Report 2025, visit: https://www.sykescottages.co.uk/letyourcottage/advice/article/holiday-letting-outlook-report-2025
Estimated number of short-term rentals in England vs. long-term vacant homes:
| Region | Total number of residential dwellings (ONS, 2021)1 | Number of short-term rentals (AirDNA)2 | Number of long-term vacant homes (ONS, 2024)3 | No. of times more vacant homes than short-term rentals | Short-term rentals as a % of total dwellings |
| West Midlands | 2.55m | 12.7k | 74.9k | 5.9 | 0.50% |
| East Midlands | 2.16m | 11.4k | 64.6k | 5.7 | 0.53% |
| East of England | 2.76m | 17.2k | 78.5k | 4.6 | 0.62% |
| North East | 1.25m | 8.0k | 42.6k | 5.3 | 0.64% |
| South East | 4.03m | 25.6k | 109.4k | 4.3 | 0.64% |
| North West | 3.36m | 22.9k | 104.0k | 4.5 | 0.68% |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 2.48m | 19.3k | 79.4k | 4.1 | 0.78% |
| London | 3.72m | 46.1k | 936k. | 2 | 1.24% |
| South West | 2.63m | 49.3k | 72.5k | 1.5 | 1.87% |
| England total | 24.93m | 212.5k | 719.5k | 3.4 | 0.85% |