The headline last week was a tax raid on holiday cottages. The document underneath says something narrower, and it does not say when.
On 2 September Markus Campbell-Savours, Labour MP for Penrith and Solway, tabled written question 26763. He asked whether the Treasury had assessed the case for removing commercially let self-catering accommodation from non-domestic rating.
James Murray, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, answered on 10 September. He did not answer that question.
His words: "Concerns have been raised about Small Business Rates Relief being used by second homeowners whose main aim is not to operate a local business but to manage tax liabilities."
Then: the Call for Evidence "sought stakeholder input on the tax treatment of short-term lets, such as self-catering accommodation. The Government is carefully considering representations received, and a Government response to the Call for Evidence will be published in due course."
That Call for Evidence was published at the Budget on 26 November 2025 and closed on 18 February 2026. 215 days ago. Its questions 30 to 32 ask how small business rate relief could be reformed to limit its use by second-home owners. They do not ask whether to take self-catering out of business rates altogether. The Budget is on 28 October, 37 days away.
The rule already changed, and that part has been badly under reported.
The Non-Domestic Rating (Definition of Domestic Property) (England) Order 2026, SI 2026/692, came into force on 24 July. It removes paragraphs (c) and (d) of section 66(2B) and replaces them with three alternative routes onto the rating list. The 70 night actual-letting test now falls away where a unit is occupied together with non-domestic land, or where it sits in a hereditament of 5 or more units not used as anyone's sole or main residence.
MHCLG's explanatory memorandum: "It has never been government policy for obviously business properties, such as aparthotels, to be subject to council tax."
So a new block of 5 or more no longer has to spend a year on council tax before it can enter the rating list.
One honest caveat. The gov.uk page for applying was last updated on 1 April and still gives only the 140 and 70 night tests. It does not mention the July change. Neither does the VOA Rating Manual page, updated on 10 September. If you are checking your own position against government guidance today, the guidance is behind the law.
The rule that already changed rewards 5 or more units in one hereditament. The one in the headlines has not been decided.
If you hold English self-catering stock, is any of it in a hereditament of 5 or more?
