Tourist Tax in Dorset & Somerset - What Does It Actually Mean for Holiday Home Owners?
You may have seen the headlines today about a new tourist tax coming to England. I certainly have, and unsurprisingly it’s already got people talking!
So, before holiday home owners across Dorset and Somerset start worrying about yet another cost or another thing they’re going to have to manage, I wanted to have a proper look at what this new Overnight Visitor Levy actually is and, more importantly, whether a tourist tax is coming to Dorset or Somerset.
And the most important bit first:
Right now, it doesn’t change anything for holiday home owners in our area.
There is currently no new tourist tax being introduced in the Dorset Council or Somerset Council areas. There’s nothing you need to start adding to your prices, nothing you need to collect from guests and nothing you need to change on your listings.
What is the new Overnight Visitor Levy?
The Government is moving forward with plans for an Overnight Visitor Levy in England.
Basically, eligible local areas would be given the power to introduce an extra charge on paid overnight stays. That could include hotels and B&Bs, but also holiday cottages, Airbnbs and other short-term lets.
It’s expected to be charged as a percentage of the accommodation cost rather than, for example, a flat £2 per night.
But — and this is the bit I think is getting lost in some of the headlines — this isn’t a blanket tax being introduced across England tomorrow.
It would be a local levy and eligible areas would decide whether they actually wanted to introduce one.
And at the moment, Dorset Council and Somerset Council don’t have those powers.
Is there a tourist tax in Dorset?
No.
At the moment, there is no Dorset tourist tax and nothing is changing for holiday home owners here as a result of today’s announcement.
Dorset isn’t currently part of a strategic authority with the power to introduce this levy.
Interestingly, Dorset Council has previously raised concerns about being left out of these sorts of powers. We have a massive tourism industry here, so there is certainly an argument that Dorset could benefit considerably from extra money being put back into the infrastructure that supports it.
But as things stand today, if you own a holiday home in the Dorset Council area, you don’t need to do anything differently.
Is there a tourist tax in Somerset?
Again, no — not in the Somerset Council area.
Somerset Council has previously confirmed that it doesn’t currently have the legal power to introduce a visitor levy.
That may change in the future as devolution and local government arrangements develop, but that’s a conversation for further down the line.
There is one slightly confusing distinction worth knowing about.
Bath and North East Somerset isn’t in the same position as the Somerset Council area. It’s part of the West of England mayoral area, where a visitor levy has already been discussed.
So when you see headlines mentioning Somerset, it’s worth checking exactly which Somerset they’re actually talking about!
For holiday homes within the Somerset Council area, there is nothing changing at present.
Do I think a tourist tax is a bad idea?
Actually, not necessarily.
I can see the logic behind it.
We live and work in an area that relies heavily on tourism and huge numbers of people come here every year to enjoy our beaches, countryside, towns and villages.
That inevitably means more pressure on roads, parking, public facilities, transport, waste services and everything else that comes with welcoming lots of visitors.
If a visitor levy genuinely means more money coming back into those areas and being spent on the infrastructure and services that support tourism, I can absolutely see the benefit.
My issue is that there needs to be much clearer information about what is happening area by area.
A headline saying “tourist tax coming to England” sounds very different to the reality for a holiday home owner sitting in Dorset or Somerset today.
And when owners have already had so many changes thrown at them over the last few years, the last thing anyone needs is to panic about another tax that they don’t actually have to do anything about!
When could a tourist tax come to Dorset or Somerset?
This isn’t imminent.
The current plans are working towards the new visitor levy powers becoming available from around March 2028.
But that absolutely does not mean we’ll suddenly have a Dorset or Somerset tourist tax in March 2028.
There are quite a few steps between the two.
Our areas would need to have the appropriate powers in the first place. There would then need to be a local decision to actually introduce a levy, followed by the detail about how much it would be, how it would work and who would be responsible for collecting it.
So we’re definitely not at the point where I’d be telling owners to start planning for it.
For now, it’s simply something to keep an eye on.
What would a tourist tax mean for holiday home owners?
This is where there are still a lot of questions I’d want answered before forming too strong an opinion on how well this could work.
How much will guests actually pay?
Will every stay be included?
Will there be exemptions?
Who collects it?
How will it be reported?
And how much extra admin is going to land on holiday home owners and managers?
But one of the biggest questions for me would be where that money actually goes.
If we’re going to ask visitors to pay a little more because of the pressure tourism puts on an area, then I would want to see that money genuinely going back into the places they’re actually visiting.
Better infrastructure, facilities and services benefit visitors, local residents and the tourism businesses operating here.
Done properly, I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing at all.
But we need the details before anyone can really judge it.
Do Dorset and Somerset holiday home owners need to do anything now?
No.
And that’s really the main reason I wanted to write this.
If you own a holiday home in the Dorset Council or Somerset Council areas, there is nothing you need to change as a result of today’s news.
No new charge to add.
No levy to collect.
No pricing changes to make.
I’ll be keeping an eye on this as it develops, but specifically from the point of view of our Dorset and Somerset holiday home owners, rather than just repeating the national headlines.
If it reaches a point where this actually affects us, I’ll go through the detail and explain what it means in practice.
For now though, this is very much one to be aware of rather than worry about.
Emma x
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