Cardiff

Running short lets in Cardiff, where the visitor levy starts on 1 April 2027

If you run or clean short lets in Cardiff, keep 31 March and 1 April 2027 in your diary. By 31 March 2027 each flat or house needs its entry on the Welsh Revenue Authority's register, and on 1 April Cardiff Council starts charging the visitor levy of £1.30 per person per night. Upbridge's AI operations assistant, Cleo, works over WhatsApp with vacation rental operators and cleaning companies and organizes the cleanings and the inventory for each place.

The Welsh rules, and Cardiff's part in them

Cardiff is in Wales, so the register, the levy and the rating test come from the Welsh Government, and the council chose whether to charge the levy and the second-home premium. We checked each source on 24 October 2026.

Topic	What it says	Status	Since	Source
Welsh register	The person responsible for a place in Wales that takes stays of up to 31 nights has until 31 March 2027 to put it on the Welsh Revenue Authority's register. That holds even where a council has no levy. An agent may register on the owner's behalf, but the duty is the owner's, and changes have to be reported within 30 days.	In force	Deadline 31 March 2027	GOV.WALES
Cardiff's visitor levy	Cardiff Council and its Cabinet approved the levy in March 2026. It's £1.30 per person per night in most accommodation and 75p in campsites and shared hostel rooms. GOV.WALES says Cardiff charges from 1 April 2027 but that providers must start accounting for it from 28 September 2026.	Not yet in force	Charged from 1 April 2027	Business News Wales, GOV.WALES
Business rates or council tax	A self-catering let in Wales is rated as a business only when, in the previous year, it was available for 252 days and let for 182. Otherwise it pays council tax. Ministers asked in a consultation, which ended on 23 October 2026, whether 182 is too high and whether to add five exemptions.	In force	April 2023	GOV.WALES
Second-home premium	In March 2023 Cardiff Council voted to charge a 100% premium from April 2024 on second homes and furnished homes that are nobody's main residence, and said nearly 3,000 homes in the city were in that group. We found no later council page with the current rate, so check your 2026/27 bill.	In force	April 2024	Cardiff Council

A flat that misses the 182 nights falls back into council tax and can pick up the premium as well, so the letting record matters twice.

England's register, expected in March 2027, doesn't cover Cardiff. The national rules for England are on the UK page.

We aren't your solicitor or your accountant. Upbridge doesn't register places with the Welsh Revenue Authority, file levy returns or deal with council tax for you.

What sets the busy weekends

The Principality Stadium on Westgate Street holds 73,931 for rugby and has a retractable roof, so a match or a concert goes ahead in February as easily as in July. In the 2027 Six Nations, Wales play Ireland there on Saturday 20 February and England in the fourth round, and the WRU confirmed both as home games in March 2026.

A Saturday kick-off in the city centre tends to fill flats on the Friday and empty them on the Sunday morning. With two home matches in a few weeks you get two of those Sundays close together, and each one needs every flat turned before the next arrivals.

Cardiff Airport handled about 954,000 passengers in 2025, up roughly 9.5% on 2024, according to Wikipedia. The TrawsCymru express bus to the airport stopped during the pandemic, so a guest without a car takes the hourly train from Rhoose Cardiff International Airport station to Cardiff Central, after a shuttle bus that covers the 2 miles from the terminal.

Where Upbridge fits in Cardiff

On a match-day Sunday each departure in your calendar becomes a job for the cleaner, with the flat's photo checklist and a photo of anything broken or missing. The calendar comes from Uplisting, Lodgify, Hostaway or Guesty, or from a plain iCal link, and your phone shows which flats near the stadium are ready for Monday.

A guest who comes in by train needs the walk from Cardiff Central to the door, and the guest guide we build for each flat has it. Stock is counted down after every stay in inventory per property, and the week before a home match it tells you which flats need towels or coffee.

If you run a cleaning company in Cardiff

A Six Nations Sunday lands on all your clients at once. In the cleaning-company account every owner's bookings sit in one calendar, so you can split the city between your teams on the Saturday night, and the clients remain yours.

Questions about short lets in Cardiff

When does Cardiff's visitor levy start?

Cardiff Council charges it from 1 April 2027, at £1.30 per person per night in most places to stay. GOV.WALES says providers had to start accounting for it from 28 September 2026.

Do I need to register a short let in Cardiff?

Yes. A place in Cardiff that takes stays of 31 nights or fewer goes on the Welsh Revenue Authority's register by 31 March 2027, and your agent can file it for you.

How many nights does a Cardiff holiday let need for business rates?

It has to be available for 252 days and actually let for 182 in the previous year. Below that it pays council tax instead.

Sources

Checked on 24 October 2026

Business News Wales, “Visitor Levy To Be Introduced for Overnight Stays in Cardiff From 2027”, 30 March 2026.
GOV.WALES, “Visitor levy for accommodation providers: check if you need to pay”, no date shown, read 24 October 2026.
GOV.WALES, “Registering visitor accommodation: overview”, first published 17 September 2025, last updated 8 October 2026.
GOV.WALES, “Review on holiday let tax rules to support tourism and local communities”, published 31 July 2026.
Cardiff Council newsroom, “Helping to tackle city's housing pressures”, 10 March 2023.
Welsh Rugby Union, “Wales men's 2027 Six Nations fixtures confirmed”, March 2026, no day shown, read 24 October 2026.
Wikipedia, “Millennium Stadium” (Principality Stadium), read 24 October 2026.
Wikipedia, “Cardiff Airport”, read 24 October 2026.