Government issues new consultations

Last Updated: 16 Aug 2010

With the new Government now truly in place, Government Departments are starting to produce a number of consultation documents to take forward proposals in the coalition agreement between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats.

Consultation on the sale of alcohol

One of the first consultations that will affect accommodation providers is the Home Office consultation on proposals to further tighten regulations relating to the sale of alcohol. The consultation, Rebalancing the Licensing Act, seeks to increase controls on licensed premises and provide communities with a greater say on whether licences should be granted.

While the proposals are primarily aimed at reducing anti-social behaviour associated with inner city clubs and bars, they have the potential to cause unintended adverse impacts on accommodation businesses. Proposals that are of particular concern include:

• Requiring licence applicants to determine the impact of their ability to sell alcohol on the local community
• Reducing the number of TENs (Temporary Event Notice) that can be applied for each year
• Allowing only one TEN in relation to a single location (thereby limiting numbers to 499 people)
• Allowing Licensing Authorities to make decisions based on Public Health considerations
• Banning the below-cost sale of alcohol (which could affect the ability to undertake promotions that include “free” bottles of wine)
• Allowing Licensing Authorities to recover the full cost of licences

Information on how to respond to this consultation can be found on the Home Office website.

Responses need to be submitted by 8 September 2010. This can be done online through the Home Office website or by sending responses to: Home Office - Alcohol Strategy Unit, 4th Floor Fry Building, 2 Marsham Street, London, SW1P 4DF

Furnished Holiday Lettings Consultation

The second consultation that will impact on accommodation providers is the Treasury consultation on revisions to the Furnished Holiday Letting Rules. The Treasury is proposing that, to ensure the FHL Rules are consistent with European law, they should be formally extended to include British residents that operate self-catering properties in other European countries. However, it is proposed that the threshold for the rules should be increased so properties must be available for letting 210 days per annum (up from 140 days) and actually let to customers 105 days per year (up from 70 days).

In addition, in order to ensure that the owners of second homes do not try to use the rules to reduce their income tax, the Treasury is proposing that loss relief is only available between self-catering properties rather than between an operator's self-catering business and any other forms of income that they derive.

Finally, the Treasury is proposing that a capital allowance disposal event is triggered in any year that an operator fails to reach the new threshold levels rather than having the thresholds levels averaged over a number of years, as has been the practice previously.

The consultation document is available on the Treasury website and submissions are invited from operators until 22 October 2010.

Any responses should be e-mailed to holiday-lettings-consultation@hmtreasury.gsi.gov.uk.