Short-Term Let Regulations Archives - Page 48 of 95

Short-Term Let Licensing Fees

Posted on September 14, 2022April 10, 2025 by Fiona Campbell

Based on information by local councils, they ASSC has analysed the short-term let licensing fees published so far which strongly indicates that the figures have not been set on a cost recovery basis. For those secondary lets accommodating four or more occupants, the average fee for a license is over £1,000 which will have implications for the viability of many businesses.

The Scottish Government’s More Homes Division have suggested that “the majority of the fees published so far by local authorities … fall within the estimate of £218 to £436 for a three-year licence predicted in the Scottish Government’s Business Regulatory Impact Assessment, and follow our guidance to tailor according to licence type and accommodation size”.
However, regardless of theses assurances, it is clear that they are clearly far higher than Landlords Register Fees, of which there are three: Principal Fee: £68; Property Fee: £16 (per let property); and Late Application Fee: £137.
Approximately twenty (20) local councils have provided information regarding the level of fees for short-term let licensing thus far.
The ASSC believe that there is strong evidence to suggest that fees are not being set on a cost recovery basis, with large variations seen throughout Scotland.
As Table A below shows, the average fees for both homesharing/letting and secondary letting for those accommodating more than 4 occupants averages above £1,000. Such costs – coupled with compliance with existing regulation as well as energy price increases – may force some operators out of business.
Additional costs will have to be passed onto guests in a price sensitive market. If this becomes too prohibitive, visitors simply won’t choose to holiday using self-catering in Scotland, thereby damaging a key component part of our tourism industry.

Table A: Fees Compared – Homesharing/letting vs Secondary Letting

Homesharing/letting 3 year license

Secondary Letting 3 year license

Fees range from £125 to £3600.

Median = £1737
Average across all occupancy numbers = £817
Average up to 4 occupants = £396.35
Average from 4-10 occupants = £1006

Fees range from £250 – £5869.

Median = £2809
Average across all occupancy numbers = £880
Average up to 4 occupants = £421
Average 4 occupants or more = £1274

The secondary letting figures for City of Edinburgh, Dundee City Council and Perth & Kinross Council are particularly stark when compared to other local authorities for equivalent sized properties.
Edinburgh: 11-15 occupants is £3,872 for a one-year license and for 16-20 occupants, it is £5,264;
Dundee: £3,100 for 12-20 occupants on a three-year license; and
Perth and Kinross: £1,600 for 11+ occupants.

The following table sets out the licensing fees that have been published so far: FEES v8

North Ayrshire Short-Term Let Licensing

Posted on September 12, 2022April 10, 2025 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

SHORT-TERM LETS: GUEST HOUSES

Posted on September 9, 2022April 10, 2025 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