After over a year of negotiations with PPL /PRS. Thanks to PASC UK, the ASSC (Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers), The English Tourism Alliance and UK Hospitality have managed to negotiate some significant changes to the discretionary exemptions. The bar has been raised to exempt any business with three or less properties of any size on a single site. This will take well over 90% of all self-caterers out of having to pay for this licence.
Previously self-catering had a discretionary exemption only requiring a PRS Licence if the property comprised more than one unit or more than three bedrooms, as long as :
1/ The premises is the only holiday accommodation business that the owners operate
2/ The premises are also your domestic residence
3/ The facilities are only available to resident guests.
If you could not meet all those categories, then you were required to purchase a combined Music Licence that covered both PPL and PRS. In effect this granted a discretionary exemption to a tiny fraction of self-catering businesses.
In brief…PPL PRS choose not to charge a royalty for the use of music (including TV and radio) in self-catering apartment(s) or holiday cottage(s) etc where all of the following criteria is met:
- The accommodation consists of three self-catering units* or fewer, irrespective of the number of bedrooms in each.
- The premises is the sole holiday, self-catering apartments, holiday cottage business operated or owned by the proprietors
- Facilities are only available to resident guests (and, in the case of holiday premises, the proprietors)
The partnership is still negotiating to get a dedicated Self-Catering Tariff and the current fee structure is based upon the Small Residential Hotels and Guest House Tariff.
