Tourist tax in London? An overview of latest developments

London is moving closer to a tourist tax. The UK government has confirmed plans to give mayors in England, including the Mayor of London, the power to introduce a local overnight visitor levy on hotels and short-term rentals.

For years, tourist taxes were something that happened in other cities: Paris, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Venice. Now London is preparing to join that list.

This article explains what is on the table for London, how it fits into the wider UK trend, and what hosts and platforms should expect next. At the end you’ll find a link to our detailed England tourist tax guide.

What has been announced for London?

The new policy is not a London-only law. It is a national framework for England that gives mayors in certain authorities the power to create a local overnight visitor levy.

Key points:

• The levy would apply to paid overnight stays, including hotels, guesthouses, B&Bs, holiday lets and short-term rentals such as Airbnb.
• The charge is meant to be a modest fee per night, not a high luxury tax.
• Each mayor would decide whether to introduce a levy, how high it should be and how it is designed in practice.

For London specifically:

• The Mayor, Sadiq Khan, has welcomed the plan and argued that a tourist levy would support London’s economy and visitor experience.
• There is media speculation about the level of the charge, but no official rate has been set.

So there is no London tourist tax in force today, but the political will and the legal framework are now in place for London to introduce one once the national law is passed and the consultation is complete.

How would a London tourist tax likely work?

The consultation documents for England and public statements so far give a rough outline of how a London visitor levy could work.

In practice, it is likely to follow this pattern:

• Who would pay? Overnight visitors who pay for accommodation, including both domestic and international guests.
• Which properties? Hotels, B&Bs, guesthouses, serviced apartments, short-term rentals and holiday lets are all likely to be in scope.
• How much? The government talks about a modest charge, either a flat amount per night or a percentage of the room price. The exact model for London will be decided locally.
• Who decides? City Hall and the London boroughs would have a central role. Revenue is expected to be used for transport, public spaces, visitor services and broader local growth.

From a guest’s perspective, this will feel very similar to the nightly taxes already charged in many European capitals. The main difference is timing: London is only now catching up.

London in the wider UK trend

London is part of a broader shift across the UK towards local visitor levies.

• Scotland has passed a visitor levy law that allows councils to charge a percentage of the room price on overnight stays. Edinburgh is expected to be one of the first cities to introduce the tax.
• Wales is developing a national framework under which local authorities can introduce their own visitor levy from a future start date.
• Elsewhere in Europe, countries like [Norway]((https://trippz.com/tourist-tax/norway) are also moving towards municipal tourist taxes to support local services and manage visitor pressure.

Seen together, England’s move brings London into line with what is becoming a European standard. For a city with tens of millions of overnight stays each year, a visitor levy is no longer an exception. It is becoming part of the normal toolkit.

What this means for London hosts and platforms

For accommodation providers and booking platforms, the arrival of a London tourist tax changes the nature of the compliance challenge.

It is less about a simple yes/no question and more about managing complexity:

• England will not have a single national rate. London, Manchester, Liverpool and other areas can each design their own levy.
• The English rules will sit alongside separate frameworks in Scotland and Wales, each with its own exemptions, thresholds and reporting duties.
• Rates, seasons, maximum nights and rules for children or business travel can all change over time.

For larger platforms, managing this in spreadsheets or static content quickly becomes unworkable. For smaller hosts, the risk is accidental non-compliance because the rules are hard to follow.

This is where structured tax rules and automated updates stop being a nice extra and become essential.

How Trippz follows the London developments

Trippz tracks tourist taxes and visitor levies city by city and keeps them in a single, machine-readable model.

For London and the rest of England, our coverage includes:

• the new overnight visitor levy proposal and its timeline
• existing local charges in cities like Manchester and Liverpool
• how the English rules interact with frameworks in Scotland and Wales
• structured parameters such as rates, nights, covered accommodation types and exemptions

As London’s visitor levy moves from idea to implementation, we update our database and products so that hosts, platforms and municipalities work from the same, consistent set of rules.

Read more: our England tourist tax guide

For a deeper dive into the legal framework, consultation dates and city-level charges, visit our updated country page:

Tourist tax in England: a complete guide for hosts and platforms