Latest news with #regionalgrowth
The Independent
5 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
Let us tax visitors on overnight stays in England, mayors say
A coalition of mayors has called for powers to be given to local authorities to create visitor levies across England, in an attempt to boost tourist infrastructure and regional growth. The group of mayors from around the country, led by Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram, is calling on the government to grant devolved powers to allow regions to create a visitor levy, which could see a small charge added to overnight stays. Mr Rotheram said the overnight charges are 'the kind most of us wouldn't think twice about when travelling abroad' and 'would give us the power to reinvest directly into the things that make our area so special'. Other mayors have echoed his sentiment. Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, said: 'A modest overnight accommodation levy, similar to other international cities, would boost our economy, deliver growth and help cement London's reputation as a global tourism and business destination.' A similar law is already in place in Scotland, passed in 2024, which allows councils to tax overnight accommodation if they wish to do so. Edinburgh has already made headway with this power, voting in January to add a five per cent surcharge on visitors' overnight stays by 2026. A bill has also been proposed by Welsh lawmakers to introduce a small visitor levy that could see visitors to the country paying up to £1.25 per night by 2027. The mayors say England is 'at risk of falling behind' as Scotland and Wales move ahead with their own tourism levies, so are calling for rapid action from the central government. The mayors have argued that the powers to create a visitor levy would unlock 'vital' funding for tourism and cultural infrastructure and drive regional growth, as well as reduce dependence on funding from the central government. English legislation does not allow cities to create a visitor levy; however, using legal workarounds has meant Liverpool and Manchester have introduced a form of tourism levy. The city councils both introduced a tourism-based Business Improvement District (BID), using existing legal power to establish a form of tourist tax that allows hoteliers to charge £1 (in Manchester) or £2 (in Liverpool) per night as part of a 'city visitor charge'. The mayors said that the BID visitor levy in Liverpool has received strong backing, while in Manchester, a recent survey revealed 70 per cent of tourists are willing to pay a small charge if it is used to visibly enhance tourism services. However, the local authorities are hoping to see devolved powers to create visitor levies written into law. The campaign is backed by the mayors of the Liverpool City Region, Greater Manchester, London, the North East, the West Midlands and West Yorkshire. 'These regions collectively attract hundreds of millions of visitors annually and contribute billions to the UK economy,' the group said. 'Yet none currently benefit from a dedicated funding stream to reinvest in tourism resilience and growth.' The Liverpool City Region predicts that a visitor levy could raise nearly £11 million per year for the area from the over 60 million visitors it receives annually. Greater Manchester says that a £1 to £5 overnight tax could raise between £8 million and £40 million per year, which could help fund key infrastructures such as the regeneration of Old Trafford or airport development. Over in the capital, the group said tourism accounts for one in seven jobs and nearly 12 per cent of London's economy, whereas visitor economies stand at £6.1 billion in the North East and £16.3 billion in Birmingham.
RNZ News
6 days ago
- Business
- RNZ News
Regional property prices set to grow faster than main centres
An aerial view of an Auckland suburb showing many blocks of housing. Photo: RNZ / Kate Newton Property prices in the regions may be set to grow more quickly than the main centres. Cotality, formerly Corelogic, has released its latest data, which shows property values nationwide dropped 0.1 percent in May and are now 1.6 percent lower than a year earlier. Hamilton prices were up 0.1 percent in the month but Dunedin and Tauranga were down 0.1 percent. Auckland was down 0.3 percent and Wellington 0.4 percent. Christchurch was down 0.8 percent. Invercargill was up 0.5 percent in the month, Queenstown 1.2 percent and Rotorua, New Plymouth and Hastings also reported growth. "I don't want to make too much of it but I think we've seen that little bit of a split between the regions and the main centres," said chief property economist Kelvin Davidson. "There's a sense there is a gap opening up between the main centres and the regions. It's probably just symptomatic of the market we're in." Photo: SUPPLIED He said while there were some factors that applied everywhere, such as lower mortgage rates and a weaker economy overall, some provinces were benefiting from the comparatively stronger performance of the primary sectors. Fonterra's milk price forecast for the 2025/26 year is $10 per kilogram of milk solids. "Farming is doing pretty well, that might be driving a bit of spending in those areas and perhaps giving people a bit more confidence to be transacting in the housing market." By comparison, areas such as Wellington were still feeling the impact of public sector cuts and it would take a broader-based economic recovery to see house prices lift. He said the May figures were a reminder that any housing upturn would be slow and variable for the time being. "Lower mortgage rates are clearly going to be bolstering households' confidence as well as their wallets, and there were signs of higher loan-to-value and debt-to-income ratio lending activity in the latest Reserve Bank figures. "But it's not one-way traffic. After all, housing isn't necessarily affordable in absolute terms, while the economy and labour market remain subdued too. Indeed, filled jobs edged lower again in April. These are certainly restraints on buyers' willingness to push ahead with property deals or to pay higher prices." He said the nationwide drop in values in May could be reversed next month. "But anybody who was anticipating a sharp or widespread increase in property values as we got further into 2025 continues to be disappointed. "The return to some kind of normality for sales volumes should start to eat into the overhang of available listings on the market in the coming months. But listings are starting from such a high level that buyers are likely to continue to have the upper hand for most of the year, with the associated restraint on house prices." He said, based on current trends, his previous forecast for a 5 percent increase in values nationwide this year could be a bit strong. "Although the year still has quite a long way to run. "Either way, a subdued or 'balanced' market is probably what we've been needing for a while now - opportunities for different buyer groups, first home buyers and investors included, with reduced risk of prices running away from them again." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
