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Category: Regulations

North Ayrshire Short-Term Let Licensing

Posted on by Fiona Campbell

The ASSC has received a note to all respondents to the North Ayrshire Council Short-Term Lets Licensing Policy Statement consultation:

It was intended that the draft Licensing Policy Statement would be discussed at the Licensing Committee meeting set for Wednesday 14 September 2022. However the consultation on the draft LPS has received an unprecedented amount of public comment, raising many issues, so in order to give the matter proper consideration the Convenor has directed that the matter will instead be discussed at a Special Meeting of the Licensing Committee, to be set just for this. That Special Meeting is likely to be on Tuesday 27 September 2022.

The date and time of that Special Meeting, and the agenda and related documents, will be available on the Council website:

https://north-ayrshire.cmis.uk.com/north-ayrshire/CommitteesMeetings/Committees/tabid/62/ctl/ViewCMIS_CommitteeDetails/mid/381/id/142/Default.aspx

The meeting will be open to the public.

In order to assist ‘Existing Hosts’ to benefit from the special rules which allow ‘Existing Hosts’ to benefit from the special rules which allow Hosts who are currently using particular accommodation without a Licence (these are called “Transitional Provisions”), the Council will soon be adding to their website:

https://www.north-ayrshire.gov.uk/business/licences-and-permits/short-term-let-licence.aspx

details of a free-of-charge non-statutory scheme to assist “Existing Hosts” by issuing ‘letters of comfort’.

The website will include a Request Form which ‘Existing Hosts’ can use to ask the Council to confirm their ‘Existing Host’ status in relation to particular accommodation. The Council are setting-up this procedure so that the Hosts will have an ‘official’ document to show guests, listings agencies and insurance companies that they are currently entitled to operate without a Licence. The Council are doing this without any legal obligation to do so.

It is important to note that:

  • the Request Form is not a ‘licence application’,
  • the Confirmation (if issued) is not a ‘licence’,
  • the issue of Confirmation does not remove the Host’s need to apply for a Licence no later than 31 March 2023, and
  • the Confirmation can only apply to the particular accommodation described in the request (it is possible that a person might be an ‘Existing Host’ in relation to one house, but not in relation to another).

What happens after that date depends on what the Hosts do:

  • If they apply for a Licence for that accommodation no later than 31 March 2023, they can continue operating without a Licence for as long as it takes the Council to make a decision on their applications;
  • If they don’t, they must stop operating until and unless the Council has granted their applications.

Regards,

Chris Pollock

Licensing Administration Officer

North Ayrshire Council

Sent on behalf of Raymond Lynch

Senior Manager (Legal Services)

Clerk to the Licensing Committee

North Ayrshire Council

The Cost Crisis: What the Scottish Government can do to help Scottish Tourism Businesses

Posted on by Fiona Campbell

Scotland’s tourism industry – of which self-catering plays an integral part – has already been through one of the most challenging times due to the impact of Covid-19 but now faces further uncertainty and economic difficulty with the cost crisis.

  • In recent days, both the Scottish and UK Governments have announced a package of measures to address rising energy bills which are of real concern to people and businesses across the country – but more can and should be done.
  • The ASSC welcomes the commitment from the Scottish Government to work with the business community to address challenges around increased costs and economic disruption. To this end, they have engaged tourism stakeholders on recommendations and views in respect of existing, new and pending regulation which could help offset the significant increase in direct costs, particularly energy.
  • Below you can find a summary of the proposals we have put to the Scottish Government. This has been supported by the Scottish Tourism Alliance.

ASSC Proposal to Scottish Government

Context

  • Short-term let licensing will come into effect on 1 October 2022, introducing new red tape for legitimate micro businesses. There is significant concern around the cost to businesses of short-term let licensing (as well as planning control areas).
  • Costs will include the licence fee itself (some councils have still to set out their proposed fees; while others are charging in excess of the figures provided in the Scottish Government’s BRIA) and layout plans (approx. £600 per premises) amongst others. This is in addition to existing compliance costs of risk assessments, EICRs, PAT testing, fire safety, insurance etc. The cost of planning permission applications has increased this year significantly. Associated fees for layouts and plans add to the expense.
  • These additional costs have fuelled a real feeling of uncertainty for self-caterers across Scotland. This, coupled the media coverage of the cost of living crisis, is already having a negative impact on operators and holidaymakers, with forward bookings already down in the autumn and winter this year.

Our Ask of the Scottish Government

  • The ASSC believes that the Scottish Government should delay the forthcoming legislation, by simply passing an SSI, amending the existing order to extend the date of implementation. For absolute clarity, we are not requesting that licensing is scrapped – Parliament has expressed its view on that matter – just that it is delayed.
  • This happened to legislation during the Covid crisis. The situation we find ourselves in now is arguably worse situation for tourism businesses in the medium to long-term.
  • Pausing the introduction of licensing would show an understanding of the immediate pressures on operators. This would be hugely welcomed by our members and would show that policymakers are supporting legitimate businesses during unprecedented times.

Our small but not insignificant ask is that short-term let licensing should be paused to allow the sector to recover from the pandemic and deal with the significant challenges ahead. Businesses and livelihoods depend on it.

 

 

 

 

 

SHORT-TERM LETS: GUEST HOUSES

Posted on by Fiona Campbell

There has been some recent discussion around whether or not Guest Houses are exempt from Short-Term Let Licensing. We have now received the following clarification from the Scottish Government:

“We are aware that there have been questions raised as to whether or not guest houses require a short-term let licence – specifically, those with planning consent within Use Class 7 of the Use Classes Order.

It may be helpful to set out first of all that the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term Lets) Order 2022 (the “Licensing Order”) does not exempt accommodation because it is in a particular use class (of the Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) (Scotland) Order 1997) for planning purposes.

Therefore some, but not all, accommodation listed in Use Class 7 is exempt from short-term let licensing. Schedule 1 of the Licensing Order lists this accommodation as

  • a hotel, which has planning permission granted for use as a hotel
  • a hostel

In addition, the following exemption will also be relevant to some Use Class 7 premises (including hotels and guest houses):

  • premises in respect of which a premises licence within the meaning of section 17 of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 has effect and where the provision of accommodation is an activity listed in the operating plan as defined in section 20(4) of the 2005 Act

Guest houses were originally listed as excluded accommodation in a previous version of the Licensing Order laid in December 2020. However, in response to feedback to this draft Order we subsequently removed guest houses from the list of excluded accommodation and undertook further public consultation on this in June 2021. This reflected that, as they can be variants of home sharing, guest houses should not be automatically excluded. Further information is set out in the 2021 consultation paper (item 1 in table 2 at page 12): Short term lets – draft licensing order and business and regulatory impact assessment (BRIA): consultation – gov.scot (www.gov.scot).

Unless otherwise excluded by any of the criteria set out in Schedule 1 of the Licensing Order, use class 7 premises are therefore within scope of the definition of a short-term let in the Order laid in November 2021 and approved by the Scottish Parliament in January 2022.

The above information has been circulated to licensing authorities to clarify this matter for the purposes of determining whether or not accommodation is captured by any of the exclusions set out in Schedule 1 of the Licensing Order.

We will monitor the application of this as part of the review already announced for 2023.”

Short Term Lets – Stakeholder Engagement – Letter to IAG on Guest Houses – 8 September 2022