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Category: Short-Term Let Regulations

Next Steps on the Scottish Government’s Plans for Short-Term Let Licensing

Posted on by Fiona Campbell

The Scottish Government’s consultation on short-term let licensing closed earlier this month and generated over 1,000 responses. First, the Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers would like to thank all of its members who participated in the exercise at what was a very busy time for operators.

It is in no small part that this level of response, with individual businesses and tourism stakeholders voicing concerns, that the Scottish Government have announced that they will delay the laying of their Licensing Order until November 2021. The Cabinet Secretary for Housing Shona Robison MSP set out their revised plans in a letter to the Scottish Parliament’s Local Government Committee which you can read in full here. In particular, we note the following:

“We remain committed to getting this legislation absolutely right. Our intention to lay the Licensing Order in September was predicated upon the consultation only highlighting minor points for revision.  The consultation closed on 13 August and the Scottish Government received more than 1,000 responses to it.  Whilst many of the points raised are familiar from previous consultations, there are some points that require careful consideration, especially if the competency of the legislation is being questioned.  We also want to take the time to review all the consultation responses carefully to see what we can do to address genuine stakeholder concerns.”

We have already published our substantive, evidence-based consultation submission but as part of our engagement with government, the ASSC also held a meeting with Shona Robison on 18th August. During this meeting, we raised the following issues with the Cabinet Secretary:

  • Explained why the ASSC chose to resign from the Working Group on Short-Term Lets due to it being not fit for purpose;
  • Detailed the ASSC’s approach to regulation and our various policy recommendations over the past few years;
  • Voiced concerns about the flawed Business Regulatory Impact Assessment, how the cost of the licensing fees was severely underestimated, and on the consequences of overprovision;
  • Highlighted the need for reliable, empirical and robust data to underpin the regulatory approach; and
  • Expressed our firm belief that the draft proposals will be costly to operators and instead urged an exemption for registered accommodation which would be a more proportionate approach.

The ASSC welcomed the constructive nature of the conversation. While some differences remain, we appreciate the Cabinet Secretary taking the time to speak with us and in our mutual desire for positive relations and a compromise which can satisfy industry concerns but also those from other affected stakeholders.

As ever, the ASSC will endeavour to update you on the latest developments on the licensing proposals and all other regulatory matters.

Message to MSPs

Posted on by Fiona Campbell

The following was sent to constituency and regional MSPs by an ASSC member:

One of the tropes I have heard all too often is that the 18 thousand odd properties across all of Scotland currently registered as S/C units with Councils are somehow intrinsically and inescapably linked to a lack of affordable housing. I hear it trotted out so frequently that, like a lot of supposed facts, when you go to look for the source, there’s nothing there!?

I think this latest Scotsman article speaks volumes to this issue of, dare I say it, ‘fake news’ whose shadow we are attempting to operate from beneath.

So, ever the one to look at actual government sourced data, here are some interesting (if not downright contradictory) statistics that confound the so-often stated claims as facts I see in the press and spoken from the lips of government officials.

Estimates of Households and  Dwellings in Scotland, 2020, published in June this year, contains some interesting bits of data:

In the last 19 years, the number of houses has grown by 320 thousand in Scotland (from 2.19 million to 2.51 million). That’s nearly 17 thousand new houses per year on average.

That does beg the, I think very reasonable question, what has Short Term Lets got to do with a lack of affordable housing and if it actually does, what and where is the evidence for this?

More plausible might be the fact that as the report states, around a third of households in 2019 are now just one person living alone. Way up on 2001.

But here is the truly befuddling statistic to come from the Government. In large urban areas (such as Edinburgh) 3.3% of dwellings are vacant. It’s even higher in rural areas at 5.6%.

If we do some very simple calculations, there are about 250 thousand council tax addresses in the city of Edinburgh, which means right now there are approximately 7,500 odd houses unoccupied in the capital, versus 1,463 self-catering units on non-domestic rates across all of Edinburgh. So, again, what has self-catering got to do with housing problems when it’s abundantly clear the far-far bigger issue is unoccupied properties?

As the Scotsman article states: “New research has revealed there are currently 47,333 empty houses in Scotland, with capital city Edinburgh accounting for over 7000 of that total.”

I think … I hope … I have made my point and that you can accept that perhaps there are more important issues that need parliamentary time than adding yet more legislative burden upon already heavily regulated self-caterers, most of whom are family-operated, rely on the income for their daily survival and keep the money within Scotland, unlike so many hotel groups that squirrel profits away to global shareholders.

Opinion Piece: Short-Term Lets – New Plans will Cripple Valued Sector

Posted on by Fiona Campbell

“In the excellent BBC sitcom, ‘Yes, Minister’, the eloquent cabinet secretary, Sir Humphrey, refers to politicians generating activity because, “it’s their substitute for achievement”. The words of Nigel Hawthorne’s character returned to me recently as I reflected on the latest developments in the Scottish Government’s handling of short-term lets because while ministers have been very active, they’ve achieved practically nothing.

“It is because of this failure that the Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers (ASSC), along with industry colleagues, decided to resign from the Scottish Government’s Short-Term Lets Working Group. Despite being proactive and willing to take the initiative at every step of the process, we have been met with nothing but blockages and a lack of understanding.

“Followers of the ongoing debate will have noticed that the Scottish Government is now on its third short-term let consultation, to which the ASSC was delighted to offer our data-backed submission. They will also be aware that back in February, the Scottish Government withdrew their ruinous, poorly planned licensing scheme proposals that posed a huge threat both to traditional self-catering and the broader Scottish tourism sector. At that point, ministers promised to work with the industry and listen to our concerns and engage to make the necessary legislative changes.

“Sadly, the Scottish Government has completely failed to live up to this most simple promise and are going ahead with this folly – practically unchanged.

“In fact, when the licensing order was withdrawn, Kate Forbes MSP said,

“I recognise the concerns have been raised by many B&Bs and self-catering properties in the Highlands about the impact of this legislation. I have listened to those concerns, relayed them to the Housing Minister and I’m pleased that he has acted in this way…I recognise that it has been a very difficult year for tourism, and it’s important that we listen to the industry.”

“Yet, as we now know, the pre-election promises have not materialised. Activity over achievement strikes again!

“Furthermore, as if to add an unneeded punchline to a joke nobody laughed at, the Scottish Government has proceeded to expand the number of tourist accommodation businesses that will be hampered by licensing. As things stand, the revised proposals will make life even more difficult for self-caterers as well as our friends in the B&B sector, glamping and some guest houses.

“Amid the maelstrom of scapegoating, political opportunism, and sheer bloody-minded ignorance that has been kicked up around short-term lets, lies an industry that we are rightfully proud of, Kate Forbes has also said that the short-term lets discussion should be focused on “facts rather than unfounded fears”. We agree – and here are a few examples.

“According to recent research, self-catering is worth £867m to the Scottish economy each year and so it is completely baffling as to why the Scottish Government seems intent on crippling such a vital and valuable sector – especially at a time when small businesses need all the support they can get.

“Moreover, the sector is especially important in rural areas, where this negative impact will be felt most severely. Self-caterers have been a key part of the Highland economy for decades and brings with it a raft of other economic and social benefits to this wonderful part of Scotland. Faced with the prospect of handing over more than £1500 for a licence, as estimated by the Society of Local Authority Lawyers and Administrators in Scotland, nearly half of the businesses are seriously contemplating shutting down forever. It really is that serious and the impact may well be that severe.

“The government’s licensing scheme represents the worst kind of ‘once-size fits all’, scattergun, sledgehammer to crack a nut kind of thinking that will have far more negative unintended consequences than it has perceived benefits – especially for small and micro tourism businesses.

“If we are to recover from COVID-19 and have a tourism industry worth saving, the Scottish Government should listen to the industry and support our calls for a more tailored, sensible, and practical mandatory registration scheme with health and safety provisions. Doing so would encourage good practice, which the overwhelming majority of self-caterers already put into place each and every day, and avoid penalising the hardworking professionals who work tirelessly to help people have memory making-holidays from Orkney to the Scottish Borders. Luckily enough, we have a set of fully workable proposals that would make such a system possible – if only the Scottish Government would care to listen.

“As Scotland emerges from the COVID-19, sectors across the Scottish economy will be faced with real challenges and difficulties, ranging from consumer confidence to the attractiveness of investment. The last thing, especially for a sector as important as self-catering, that any government should do is impose costly, restrictive, and damaging restrictions. We’ve seen what the current government does when it goes for activity – now, let’s see some achievement.”

Fiona Campbell

Chief Executive

Associaiton of Scotland’s Self-Caterers

(published in the West Highland Free Press, 20th August 2021)