Meta description: Compare holiday lets and campsites in 2026. Check tax, business rates, Welsh registration, visitor levy costs and the key deadlines for landowners.
Hello, landowners. Compare the rules, check your costs, then choose the model that fits your site.
Holiday let vs campsite UK: what changed in 2025-26?
The Furnished Holiday Let tax regime ended on 6 April 2025. From the 2025-26 tax year, short-term holiday accommodation and self-catering income is taxed under the usual residential landlord rules. The old FHL reliefs no longer apply.
That change affects tax treatment. It does not automatically decide whether your property pays Council Tax or business rates. Check each test separately.
A second change is coming for England. A national short-term let registration scheme is expected to start in March 2027. The government also plans a new use class, related permitted development rights and flexibility for people to let their main or sole home for up to 90 nights a year. Hotels, hostels and B&Bs are not covered by these proposed changes.
If your property is in London, check the existing 90-night limit. The Deregulation Act 2015 allows temporary sleeping accommodation in Greater London homes for up to 90 nights per calendar year without planning permission. Going beyond that may need permission for a material change of use. Breaching an enforcement notice is a criminal offence and can carry an unlimited fine.
A tent campsite follows a different route. In England, Class BC permitted development rights can allow temporary use for camping for up to 60 days a year, subject to conditions. In Wales, the relevant allowance is 28 days in protected landscapes. Check the rules for your land before you take bookings. A licence or membership arrangement does not remove planning conditions.
Use Open Sky Adventure’s legal information and land diversification guidance as starting points. Check your own site and council requirements before opening.
England holiday let business rates: the 140-day test
For an English self-catering property to qualify for non-domestic rates, check three points:
- It was available for commercial letting for at least 140 nights in the last 12 months.
- It was actually let commercially for at least 70 nights in that period.
- You intend to make it available for at least 140 nights in the next 12 months.
Keep booking records, calendars, invoices and evidence of your future availability. The rules are set out in the England guidance.
From 24 July 2026, the 70-night actual letting test is waived for qualifying farm-diversification properties run as a single operation and properties with five or more self-contained units. The forward 140-night availability test still applies.
Do not apply England’s 140/70 test to Welsh properties. Wales generally uses 252 available nights and 182 nights actually let. Check the Welsh business rates guidance.
VO 6048: answer a request on time
The Valuation Office Agency can ask for evidence using form VO 6048. Return it within 56 days of receipt. Failing to do so can lead to a £100 penalty under paragraph 5A(1) of Schedule 9 to the Local Government Finance Act 1988.
Email a completed form to specialist.rating@voa.gov.uk. Read the VO 6048 guidance and check what the request asks you to provide.
The wider rating picture is changing too. VOA statistics show that 11,960 self-catering holiday homes were removed from the non-domestic rating list in 2023-24. Most had a rateable value below £6,000. Keep your evidence ready, and do not assume a holiday let will stay on business rates.
Council tax premiums can change the numbers
In England, councils can charge up to 100% extra Council Tax on furnished second homes. Cornwall Council and Westmorland & Furness have both applied a 100% premium since 1 April 2025. Around 38 English councils doubled Council Tax from that date.
Wales allows premiums of up to 300%. Rates vary by council. For 2026/27, Gwynedd and Ceredigion set a 150% premium, while Pembrokeshire set 125%.
Check your local council’s current policy. Add the premium to your cost forecast before comparing a holiday let with a campsite.
Wales visitor accommodation registration: meet the 31 March 2027 deadline
If you take bookings for overnight stays of 31 nights or less in Wales, you must register with the Welsh Revenue Authority. This includes tent pitches, touring caravans, motorhomes, campervans, glamping, static caravans, self-catering lets, spare rooms, hotels and hostels.
Registration is free. If your accommodation was already open for bookings before 1 April 2027, register by 31 March 2027. If you open after that date, register before you take bookings.
Register through the Welsh visitor accommodation service. You will need contact details, your trading name, accommodation address, accommodation types, booking dates, unit numbers and capacity. You receive a registration number. Some details will be public. Update your details within 30 days of a change.
The provider remains responsible, even if an agent manages your bookings.
Miss the deadline and penalties can build up:
- £100 per premises.
- If still unregistered, £10 per premises per day for up to 30 days.
- A further £1,000 per premises.
For three unregistered premises, that could total £4,200: £300, then £900, then £3,000.
Wales visitor levy: 75p for a tent pitch, £1.30 for other stays
The Welsh visitor levy has two rates. For a tent pitch, the lower rate is 75p per adult aged 18 or over, per night. Children under 18 in tents pay nothing.
The higher rate is £1.30 per person, per night, for all ages. It covers self-catering lets, glamping, shepherd’s huts, yurts, lodges, caravans, motorhomes and campervans on pitches, among other accommodation.
That makes tent nights the lowest-rate option. A tent pitch is charged at 75p for adults only. A glamping pod, yurt, hut, motorhome or campervan pitch is charged at £1.30 for every guest, including babies.
You can absorb the charge, add it to the guest’s price or show it as a separate fee. You remain responsible for paying the levy, even if a guest refuses to pay.
Read the Welsh Government’s levy rate guidance and visitor levy overview.
Cardiff visitor levy 2027: dates, records and returns
Each Welsh council chooses whether to introduce the levy. It must consult and announce its decision a year ahead. Cardiff’s levy starts on 1 April 2027. No other Welsh council is charging it yet.
If you take Cardiff bookings, start recording the levy on new bookings and booking changes made on or after 28 September 2026, for stays beginning on or after 1 April 2027.
Check which filing route applies:
- If your yearly levy is £1,000 or less, choose annual or quarterly returns.
- If it is over £1,000, file quarterly, within 60 days of each quarter ending.
Annual returns cover 1 April to 31 March. File and pay by 31 May. Quarterly due dates are 29 August, 29 November, 1 March and 30 May.
A £1,000 levy is about 770 higher-rate guest nights or 1,334 lower-rate guest nights. Put a stay in the return period that contains its check-out date.
Keep the date, visitor count and nights for every stay, including exempt stays, for at least six years. Exemptions include stays under one contract lasting 32 nights or more, work stays by employees or contractors, cancellations and no-shows. Teachers accompanying a school trip still count, even if they stay free.
If you are VAT registered and pass the levy on, VAT applies to the total guests pay, including the levy. Pay VAT to HMRC and the levy to the WRA separately. If you are not VAT registered, added prices or levy fees count towards taxable turnover. They could push you over the £90,000 VAT registration threshold.
Which model wins on compliance burden and revenue?
Reported industry figures, not official averages, put holiday let turnover at £15,000–£30,000 a year, with around 15 hours of owner labour each week. PASC UK has reported those holiday let figures. UKCCA reports pop-up campsite income of £8,000–£17,000 per season, and basic site income of £1,000–£11,000 or more a year.
Treat these as broad comparisons, not a forecast for your land. Your location, season, access, facilities, prices and occupancy will affect the result.
A holiday let can bring year-round bookings. But you need to account for abolished FHL reliefs, the England 140/70-day test, Council Tax premiums and the expected England registration scheme. In Wales, also check the 252/182-day business rates rules and the £1.30 levy rate for self-catering accommodation.
A tent-only campsite may suit land that can host seasonal stays without a building conversion. In England, check the Class BC 60-day right and its conditions. In protected Welsh landscapes, check the 28-day limit. In Wales, register with the WRA by 31 March 2027. If Cardiff guests are likely, prepare for the 75p adult tent-pitch levy from 1 April 2027.
Neither model always wins. Compare your likely income with the workload, tax, rates, planning position and local demand. Then choose the option you can operate within the rules.
Five quick checks before you choose
- Check your location. Confirm planning rules, permitted development rights and local restrictions.
- Check the rating test. Use 140/70 for England holiday lets, or the Welsh 252/182 test for Welsh self-catering properties.
- Check every local charge. Confirm Council Tax premiums and any visitor levy decision.
- Check your records. Keep booking evidence, availability calendars, levy details and copies of any VOA requests.
- Check the workload. Compare reported revenue with your own costs, available time and expected bookings.
If you are a landowner, farmer or hospitality business considering a campsite, unlock your land’s potential, review the legal guidance, then join the Open Sky Adventure group and sign up on our website.
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