beware of buying to rent

Absolutely, and I wonder if estate agents still quote potential rental figures knowing that the rooms are too small to qualify (along with a raft of other requirements) for a Tourist Licence or how difficult and time consuming obtaining one is likely to be. As for the fines, all those tax free earnings were never going to last forever and if everything was done above board before the rules changed, I doubt there will be fines. For all those who have been operating under the radar up to now and are suddenly applying for licences, it really is like waving a red flag to the authorities who have invested in all the facilities and haven´t been getting the taxes they are rightly due.

I could not agree more I got fed up being legal paying my tax and the hearing people bragging about not paying .then the same people moaning about immigration in uk.

Karma

loads of info on here about going legal.

Totally agree Yorks, all those who have been paying tax on their income and whose properties meet all the standards, it is a case of going through the process which is well covered on this site. Those whose properties do not meet the spec, in many cases it will be impossible to make the necessary changes, for example to make all bathrooms at least 4.5 m2, or, if above 2nd floor, I think, it needs a lift. That is going to impact a lot of people who have purchased property, rented it out and paid their taxes and rely on that income. These will be the innocent victims. Those who have been merrily collecting rent without declaring it in the past ( and are a big part of why this has happened),  are now applying for the licence but the authorities want to know what owners were doing before the rules came in and I believe booking sites are obliged to give them information, hence the fines.

Well said