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- 🏠 STR Index Has A Rebound
🏠 STR Index Has A Rebound
And which councils are planning on implementing 100% second home council tax
Phil Jackson
February 08, 2025
Welcome to this weeks bumper newsletter full of the latest updates, news and information to help you be in the know and grow your short term rental business.
Your takeaways for this weeks newsletter:
📈 STR Index reaches 37 in December 2024, showing positive growth driven by improved Daily Rates and Length of Stay
🏴 PASC and others represent the STR sector to the Welsh Government considering tourism levy
📝 UK's Mandatory Registration Scheme for short-term rentals likely to be implemented early 2026
🏠 A summary of the English councils implementing up to 100% additional council tax on second homes in key regions
🇪🇺 Travelling to Europe this year - a summary of all of the current European tourist taxes and restrictions
🔄 Opinion - Private rental landlords may switch from long-term to short-term lets
🎯 Special offer: Free listing optimisation assessment (worth £4.95) available until February 14th
⭐ Featured tool: Revyoos - Platform for managing and analysing vacation rental reviews across multiple platforms
See you next Saturday at 5pm?
Phil
Founder, My Holiday Guide
IN THE NEWS
STR Index Continues To Rebound
The STR index has climbed to 37 in December 2024 according to the latest figures, achieving a second month of consecutive improvement.
Average Daily Rates (ADR) and Average length of Stay metrics were the major contributors to the increase, whilst Occupancy Rates and Average Revenue per Property are still falling behind.
How does this compare with your current view? Hit reply and let me know.
Welsh Visitor Levy
Alistair Handyside MBE, Executive Chair of PASC along with some industry representatives including Airbnb recently spoke at a Senedd Oral Evidence session.
You can watch a full video of the recording here. The Welsh Government representatives were provided with a clear impact of the current plans would have on the short term rental sector and wider tourism industry.
If you haven’t done so already, join PASC to support their work in representing your industry.
Mandatory Registration Scheme
Don’t panic - According to a response by Chris Bryant MP to a parliamentary question, it looks like the implementation of the registration scheme is about a year away.
Second Home Council Tax
The Telegraph have written an article on the status of where councils in England are implementing up to 100% additional council tax on second homes.
The graphics below highlight the regions currently believed to be implementing the hike as-well as highlighting second home hotspots.
Councils imposing the double rate  Source: ONS Census 2021 | Second home hotspots  Source: ONS Census 2021 |
Planning On Travelling To Europe This Year?
Here’s a table on tourist taxes, bans, and restrictions in Europe.
Other News
A recent survey conducted by SpareRoom highlights a potential crisis in the UK's private rented sector, with many landlords planning to exit the market or switch to short-term lets within 2025; reducing the availability of rental properties and increasing the stock of short-term rental properties.
Across the pond, according to Christian Klossner, head of the NYC Office of Special Enforcement, Local Law 18 is proving effective because it mandates that hosts register and booking platforms like Airbnb, Vrbo, and Booking dot com verify that listings are registered
According to this article, Westminster City Council is struggling with a surge in illegal Airbnb rentals. The council estimates there are around 13,000 short-term lets, many violating the 90-night rule. Residential buildings are becoming virtual hotels, causing disturbances for residents. The council is expanding its enforcement team to crack down on illegal lettings, with over 2,600 properties currently under investigation for unlawful short-term use.
LISTING PERFORMANCE & GROWTH
Tips and strategies to enhance the visibility and attractiveness of your holiday let.
Optimise Your Listing Description
Our listing optimisation tool is getting some great responses. If you haven’t done so already do check it out. I’m currently offering the full assessment FOR FREE (usual price £4.95) to my newsletter subscribers until the 14th February. Just submit your listing and email me here to claim your free assessment.
FEATURED RESOURCE
Highlighting useful tools and resources for your holiday let.
Revyoos: All-In-One Review Management for Vacation Rentals
Would you like to assess all of your reviews and gain a sentiment analysis of what your guests are saying and thinking?
Revyoos is a review aggregator designed to help vacation rental property managers and hosts improve trust, SEO, and direct bookings. It collects reviews from various online travel agencies (OTAs) and other sources, offering features like sentiment analysis and review widgets to display on their websites.
Revyoos aims to give property managers greater control over their reviews, safeguarding against potential data loss and improving their online reputation.
PROPERTIES OF THE NEWSLETTER
We all love looking at and getting inspiration from other properties so here’s our top pick for this edition.
NO FOMO
Missed last weeks newsletter? Here’s one thing you might like.
How AI Is Revolutionising Booking Rates - An Example
In last weeks newsletter we looked at the different ways a Spanish property manager is using AI to streamline and enhance their guest experience and efficiency.
You can read the full newsletter here: