Large numbers of small family-run holiday lettings businesses in Wales are selling up because of new restrictions and large tax hikes, according to a local MP.

New legislation means Welsh local authorities can charge a premium - an amount on top of council tax - of up to 300%. The move - part of a deal between Labour and Welsh nationalist party Plaid Cymru - also means rules on self-catering homes being liable for business rates rather than council tax are tighter with properties now being let for at least 182 days a year to qualify, instead of 70 as before.

Mark Isherwood, a Conservative Member of the Welsh Parliament, is reported by the BBC as saying that he had been contacted by “huge numbers of constituents” running “legitimate self-catering businesses”.