Overall, the Development of Tourism and Regulation of Visitor Accommodation (Wales) Bill:
- restates and modernises the Welsh Ministers’ functions of promoting tourism in Wales, while requiring them to have regard to the potential social impact of tourism and its potential impact on the environment and the Welsh language;
- regulates the provision of visitor accommodation in Wales by introducing a licensing regime that initially focuses on self-contained self-catering accommodation, and seeks to align the standard of that accommodation more closely with corresponding standards already applicable to the private rented sector;
- makes a standard in relation to the fitness of visitor accommodation a contractual requirement;
- establishes a directory of visitor accommodation to provide information to the public; and
- creates a code of Welsh law on tourism, incorporating the provisions of the Bill itself and those of the Visitor Accommodation (Register and Levy) Etc. (Wales) Act 2025 (the VARL Act). Subordinate legislation made under the Bill or that Act will also form part of the code.
The Economy, Trade and Rural Affairs (ETRA) Committee held Stage 2 proceedings on 5 February. This article summarises what happened at Stage 2 and how the Bill was amended.
For more background on the Bill see our Bill resource page and our article on the Stage 1 debate.
How did the Bill change at Stage 2?
Minimum consultation period
The definition of regulated visitor accommodation in the Bill initially focuses on self-contained, self-catering accommodation, and section 5 of the Bill provides for the Welsh Ministers to add “any other description of visitor accommodation” by regulations. In its Stage 1 report, the ETRA Committee noted that this flexibility will be key in responding to the data produced by the forthcoming register of visitor accommodation. However, the Committee recommended that any regulations under section 5 should be subject to a minimum period of scrutiny.
In response to the Committee’s recommendation, the Welsh Government tabled an amendment at Stage 2 to set a minimum 12-week consultation period for any proposals to make regulations to expand the definition of regulated visitor accommodation. The amendment was agreed.
Training for visitor accommodation providers
Section 16 of the Bill provides that the Welsh Ministers may impose, through regulations, a training requirement on visitor accommodation providers. The training would encompass the requirement for a premises to be fit for visitor accommodation, the content of any code of practice issued under section 3 and any other matters connected to the regulation of visitor accommodation. Following the concerns expressed by stakeholders at Stage 1, the ETRA Committee noted that it is important for the Welsh Government to “ensure that any training requirement does not become burdensome on providers”.
The Welsh Government tabled an amendment dealing with how the training requirement of the licensing scheme will operate. In particular, it specifies that regulations must be made to identify which visitor accommodation providers need to complete the training. The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Welsh Language said that the amendment allows for a “proportionate sense of training to be achieved” and that training will be “calibrated according to the experience that people already have of running a successful business”. The amendment also clarifies that training could be delivered “either by the Welsh Ministers directly or by somebody authorised to do so on our behalf and that fees may be charged” in both scenarios.
Nuisance
Luke Fletcher MS tabled amendments which sought to provide “reasonable protections for communities where visitor accommodation is present”. The amendments, which were agreed, add a licence condition that would require accommodation providers to take reasonable steps to prevent behaviour capable of causing a nuisance or annoyance to neighbours.
The Cabinet Secretary supported the amendments and stated:
This issue was extensively discussed when I was in front of this committee during Stage 1 proceedings, particularly by our colleague Jenny Rathbone, and I know how significant this issue can be for people who live near short-term lets. I believe that the approach taken in these amendments strikes a proportionate balance. It sets the expectation that accommodation providers will take reasonable steps to avoid a nuisance, such as contractual terms for visitors about anti-social behaviour and informing guests what is expected of them, but the amendments do not make providers responsible for behaviour that is beyond their control.
Commencement
The ETRA Committee recommended that if the provisions of the Bill have not been brought into force by the end of the next Senedd term, then they should not be able to be commenced. In response, the Welsh Government tabled an amendment to bring the remaining provisions of the Bill into force on the first Monday in March 2030, if they have not already been commenced by that date. The Cabinet Secretary explained that he agreed “that it is not right that any Bill should be left on the statute book without the power to commence it, or that a future Government should be able to frustrate the will of this Senedd simply by waiting out a deadline to commence the Bill”.
The amendment, which was agreed, also includes a power to delay the commencement date by no more than two years from this date, in order to give the Welsh Government flexibility to “deal with any last-minute issues in rolling out the licensing scheme”.
Review of operation
The Bill’s Explanatory Memorandum states that the Welsh Government will conduct a “post implementation review” of the operation of the licensing scheme. The ETRA Committee was concerned that “a commitment made by this Welsh Government may not be upheld by a future administration” and recommended that the requirement to undertake a review should be included on the face of the Bill. The Welsh Government tabled an amendment to this effect, which was agreed.
Next steps
Stage 3 proceedings take place in Plenary on 10 March, giving Members another opportunity to amend the Bill.
You can watch proceedings live on Senedd.tv and a transcript will be available around 24 hours later.
Article by Ben Stokes, Senedd Research, Welsh Parliament
