UK households face '200 per cent rise' in council tax and new staycation fee

People in the UK face a tourist tax in a new part of Britain - with the Welsh government reportedly "doubling down". Eluned Morgan has today (Sunday September 8) clapped back at claims that the holiday home tax and looming tourist tax would devastate Wales.

The plans include a huge 200 per cent council tax targeting holiday homes in some areas and the government also says it is committed to bringing in a 'visitor levy' to raise extra money for facilities at tourism hotspots in the nation.

Ms Morgan warned that doing nothing risked "ghost villages" where no one lived half the year. Ms Morgan said: "Actually the thing that frustrates people more than anything is paying 40p to go to the loo on the beach.

READ MORE Martin Lewis' MSE issues 'warning' to UK households with central heating

"Visitors get furious about that. If have a tourism tax the local authority could subsidise that and take that away." The Welsh First Minister said that the rise of holiday homes in Wales meant "local people can't afford to live in the communities where they were brought up".

She continued: "We can't ignore that, we have got to address that issue. It is complicated and I don't think anybody has got the entire answer to this, people all over the world are struggling with this.

"I recognise there are people who own holiday homes that won't be happy but I think our responsibility is to the people who live in these communities throughout the year and we need to make sure it is possible for their families to stay in communities, particularly in more sensitive linguistic areas where we need to protect the Welsh language."

Tourist hotspots in Wales are “haemorrhaging” money after a 200pc council tax rise forced holiday homeowners to sell up. Business owners said coastal attractions such as Tenby and Littlehaven are being hit hard by the exodus, which has seen the number of second homeowners leaving Pembrokeshire treble in the past year.