Overview
- The government announced on Thursday, September 10, 2026, that mayoral and strategic authorities in England will be allowed to charge a percentage fee on overnight accommodation and keep the revenue locally.
- The levy must be set as a percentage of the accommodation bill rather than a flat per‑night charge and there will be no national upper limit on rates.
- Hospitality trade bodies have condemned the move and cited Oxford Economics modelling that a 5% charge, if fully applied, could cost tens of thousands of jobs and reduce billions in tourism spending by 2030.
- Many Labour mayors have signalled they would keep any levy modest—commonly up to around 5%—while several Conservative and local leaders say they will not introduce the charge.
- Mayors must publish investment plans for any revenue by about March 2028 and the levy is not expected to be in operation before 2028; similar schemes already exist in Edinburgh and are planned in Wales, which provides a model for how funds might be used and capped elsewhere.