Brent Council is looking to introduce a new tax on visitors staying overnight in the borough to help fund improvements to the area. The local authority claims the levy will “unlock a vital new source of funding” that can be used to tackle some of the challenges caused by its success as a “world class cultural destination”.
At a recent Brent Council meeting (July 7), a motion was brought forward proposing an introduction of a mandatory ‘visitor levy’ on hotel and short-stay accommodation within the borough. Last year, nearly three million people attended events at Wembley Stadium from across the UK and internationally and the council is exploring “sustainable ways to fund improvements” that the whole borough could benefit from.
With headline acts including Oasis and Coldplay set to perform at the stadium this summer, hotel occupancy will continue to be high and Brent Council are exploring ways of ensuring that “the benefit of our world class events are felt by all residents”. The success of attracting more visitors to the area also brings “very real challenges” and the local authority wants to make sure visitors “contribute fairly” to the area’s upkeep.
Whilst the influx of millions of visitors undoubtedly brings significant economic benefits to Wembley – with each non-sporting event at the stadium boosting the local economy by around £4.35m – it also has a significant impact on residents through increased noise, congestion, waste, and pressure on council services.
The motion to introduce a tax on overnight visitors to Brent was tabled by Cllr Mary Mitchell, who said London boroughs should “follow the proven model” that has already been introduced in cities across the UK and Europe. She added: “The money raised from a visitor levy here could fund more street trees, better waste enforcement, enhanced cleaning, and improvements to our parks and green spaces – reflecting the true cost of tourism and making Brent cleaner, greener and more welcoming for all.”
Manchester’s £1 a night additional charge on hotel stays has raised £2.8m in its first year, whilst Edinburgh’s 5 per cent add on to accommodation fees introduced this month is projected to bring in around £50m per year. Glasgow City Council has recently been granted powers to charge a visitor levy – on average £4.83 per night – which could generate an £16m in additional income.
Cllr Mitchell said: “Importantly, studies show that levies do not reduce tourism and indeed when visitors to Manchester were asked in a referendum whether they would support a tourist tax, four in five voted in favour.”
Planning Committee Chair, Cllr Matt Kelcher, said the council needs to be “quite careful” when looking to tax economic activity by making sure that it is not set at an excessive level so it undoes the benefit but a “small amount” of £1 or £2 a night would not do that. He said it would be fair for the benefit of the wider community that the council “extracts some money from economic activity to improve the area”.
The motion received further support from the Labour Cabinet, including the Member for Customer Experience, Resident Support and Culture, Cllr Promise Knight, who said the move would not be just about generating revenue but “could help fund initiatives that further strengthen our cultural identity. Whilst Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, Public Health and Leisure, Cllr Neil Nerva, said the levy would enable “all of Brent to benefit from the rise in [the borough] being a hospitality destination”.
The motion was also broadly supported by the Liberal Democrats, with party leader, Cllr Paul Lorber, saying they are in favour but called for more clarity around the size of the tax, as well as to “think about the impact on businesses”, which would face additional administrative costs, as well as making sure the council gets “100 per cent of it” and the VAT isn’t kept by the government.
However, the motion was not supported by the Conservative Group, which accused the council of “falling into the trap of chasing headlines”. Cllr Kanta Mistry said the party would not support “symbolic gestures that create uncertainty for visitors and put pressure on small businesses while avoiding the real challenge of delivering value for money”.
She added: “It’s not just about fans in luxury hotels, it’s about couples visiting families, NHS workers staying late after their shifts and small businesses already struggling with rising costs and staffing shortages.”
The motion ultimately passed, meaning the council has agreed to write to the relevant Secretary of State calling for powers to introduce the levy, as well as writing to the Mayor of London to support plans for a voluntary levy on stadium and arena tickets to fund grassroots cultural opportunities.
Grant Williams is a journalist and Local Democracy Reporter (LDR) for Reach PLC, reporting on local government, politics and community issues across London. As part of the Local Democracy Reporting Service, he has contributed to Harrow Online, covering council decisions, housing developments, transport, planning matters and stories affecting local communities across Harrow and Brent.
