The Welsh Government has decided to move forward with proposals for a vacant land tax to encourage regeneration and tackle the housing crisis.

Cabinet secretary for finance, Mark Drakeford, said the tax would encourage regeneration by unlocking land with planning permission that was not being developed.

Mr Drakeford said: ‘Housing is a priority for the Welsh Government.

‘A tax on vacant land could prevent the practice of land banking and land not being developed within the expected timescales.’

Mr Drakeford added of the four new tax ideas proposed in the draft Budget last October, a vacant land tax was the most suitable because there is already an existing model for it in Ireland.

A tourism tax, social care levy and disposable plastics tax were the other three ideas.

At The MJ Future Forum North last year, chief executives were told to use compulsory purchase orders to build on derelict land where planning permission had been granted.