A hike in registration fees for TT Homestay has been defended in the Keys - with the Minister responsible insisting it’s still a good deal.

It was announced this month that the fee for Homestay is to double for new registration from £25 to £50, or £75 for two years.

New operator MiQuando Limited has been appointed by the government following a tender process. MiQuando will carry out property inspections, provide fire safety advice and provide marketing, online booking via the Homestay website.

But concerns were raised in the House of Keys this week that the new fees could dissuade some smaller providers from signing up to Homestay.

David Ashford (Douglas North, pictured) said: ’When you are looking at £80 for a re-registration including inspection, for a lot of the small providers, that is quite a substantial amount.’

’Is there a way that if numbers do start dropping off, the department can review these fees?’

Economic Development Minister Laurence Skelly pointed out that households that offer Homestay during the races can earn up to £1,800 of tax-free income.

He said: ’The department did review the impact that increasing the fees would have.

’However, the department considers that even with the increases, the amount of money that hosts can potentially earn is significantly higher than the fees and so the pricing structure will not dissuade significant numbers of hosts from registering.

’We believe that the fees therefore offer good a deal to hosts, particularly taking into account that the public liability insurance is a benefit of registration.’

Mr Skelly stressed the income is tax-free and pointed out that a principle of the tender was that the service should be covered by the fees rather than be subsidised by the taxpayer.

A one-year new registration will cost £50, re-registration including inspection will be £60 or re-registration without inspection £25. A two-year registration including inspection will be £75 and re-registration with inspection £80.