Benefits
About
News
Events
Resources
Forum
Your account

Edinburgh Designated as Planning Control Area

Posted on by Fiona Campbell

Edinburgh will become Scotland’s first designated Short-Term Let Control Area after the Scottish Government approved the City of Edinburgh Council’s proposed change to planning requirements.

Further details can be found in the news release: Controlling short-term lets – gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Fiona Campbell, Chief Executive of the Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers, said:

“The ASSC are extremely disappointed that the Scottish Government have chosen to approve City of Edinburgh Council’s proposed city-wide short-term let control area. Our members in the capital, who help to generate more than £70m each year, will be rightly concerned about what this means for their livelihood in what is already a challenging regulatory and economic environment.”

“Self-catering properties have been a longstanding presence in Edinburgh for decades, providing a vital source of alternative accommodation during major events. It is therefore somewhat ironic that this news comes in the same week that many Festival performers and visitors will be arriving in the city.”

“We believe that a city-wide control area is wholly disproportionate. As we have warned, the Council’s unevidenced plans are seriously deficient and will simply drive many small businesses to close without achieving their policy objective, as well as damaging Edinburgh’s position as a world leading Festival city.”

“It is with deep regret that a key component part of the Scottish tourism industry has once again been completely disregarded by policymakers. This move, coupled with the government’s onerous licensing scheme, has the potential to be absolutely devastating for our sector in Edinburgh.”

The City of Edinburgh Council has launched a further round of public consultation on the licensing of short term lets. We’ve previously asked you what the Council’s short term lets policy should include and what any additional licence conditions should cover. After considering responses to that consultation, a proposed short term let licensing policy and conditions framework has been developed.

The aim of this consultation is to seek community and business views on the proposed licensing policy and conditions framework for short term letting in Edinburgh. The consultation is open until 5 September 2022. We are keen to hear from as many interested parties as possible. To view the consultation here.

Media Coverage:

Telegraph: Edinburgh Airbnb hosts forced to get planning permission to rent out their homes for summer festivals

‘Absolutely devastating’ change announced as tourists flock to Edinburgh Fringe and the International Festival in August

By Simon Johnson, SCOTTISH POLITICAL EDITOR

Nicola Sturgeon’s government has been accused of undermining the success of Edinburgh’s festivals by approving plans to force the city’s Airbnb property owners to apply for planning permission.

The SNP administration rubber-stamped proposals submitted by the local council for the entire city to become Scotland’s first short-term lets control zone.

It means property owners letting out a residential property that is not their principal home for a short period will have to apply for “change of use” permission through the planning process.

The move aims to crack down on Airbnb-style accommodation, amid concerns that too many homes are being lost to the “holiday market”.

Around a third of all short-term lets in Scotland are in Edinburgh and council leaders want to introduce a city-wide cap on the numbers of homes given planning permission under the new scheme.

Timing of announcement ‘ironic’

But industry groups attacked the “absolutely devastating” change and warned it would make it harder for performers and visitors at Edinburgh’s summer festivals to find accommodation.

The city’s population is expected to double to almost a million people this month, as tourists flock back to the Edinburgh Fringe, the International Festival and the International Book Festival for the first time since the pandemic.

Even though the change will not be implemented until next month, after 2022’s festivals are over, there are fears that it will lead to a dire shortage of rooms next August.

Fiona Campbell, chief executive of the Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers, said: “Self-catering properties have been a long-standing presence in Edinburgh for decades, providing a vital source of alternative accommodation during major events.

“It is therefore somewhat ironic that this news comes in the same week that many festival performers and visitors will be arriving in the city.”

The latest crackdown comes after SNP ministers introduced a new licensing system for the owners of short-term lets. New operators will have until Oct 1 to obtain a licence, while existing ones will have until April 1 next year.

Shona Robison, the SNP’s Housing Secretary, said: “I recognise the important role which short-term lets play as a source of flexible and responsive accommodation for tourists and workers, which brings many benefits to hosts, visitors and our economy.

“However, we know that in certain areas, particularly tourist hot spots, high numbers of lets can cause problems for neighbours and make it harder for people to find homes to live in.”

Cammy Day, the city council leader, said: “We will now progress implementing the changes and the next step should be looking at whether we can apply a cap on numbers, too.”

The Telegraph has approached Airbnb for comment.

Times: New Airbnb curbs ‘will damage tourism’

Kieran Andrews, Scottish Political Editor

Tuesday August 02 2022, 12.01am, The Times

Councillors in Edinburgh believe that short-term lets have fuelled severe housing shortages

Airbnb owners in Edinburgh will be banned from renting out their properties unless they stick to new rules to curtail short-term lets that have fuelled severe housing shortages. A limit for how many flats and houses can be used as makeshift hotels is being considered by council officials.

All short-term lets will require planning permission under council proposals that have been approved by the Scottish government in the first large-scale move of its kind in the country.

Estate agents have warned that registering the entire city as a controlled zone would do little to make more property available for long-term rent but could damage tourism. A third of all short-term lets in Scotland are in Edinburgh and the zone is the first in the country to cover a city.

Elsewhere, Highland council, which has applied to make the Badenoch and Strathspey ward a short-term let control area, will consider wider action next month. Residents in Skye often complain of being priced out of housing because property is bought to be let to tourists.

From October new owners of short-term lets across Scotland will be required to apply to a council for a licence to operate, while existing owners will have until April.

Cammy Day, the leader of Edinburgh city council, said: “For far too long, too many homes have been lost in our city to the holiday market. We will now progress implementing the changes, and the next step should be looking at whether we can apply a cap on numbers, too.”

The changes were passed unanimously by councillors this year, while 85 per cent of respondents to a consultation backed the move.

Edinburgh lets on Airbnb have doubled to 12,000 since 2016, which city leaders previously said was partly to blame for the loss of up to a third of the private rental stock in some areas.

Many families and young professionals lost their homes as landlords exploited lax regulation in the short-term lettings market to make more money from holiday lets. Ministers have since tightened the rules.

Shona Robison, the housing secretary, said: “I recognise the important role which short-term lets play as a source of flexible and responsive accommodation for tourists and workers, which brings many benefits to hosts, visitors and our economy.

“However, we know that in certain areas, particularly tourist hotspots, high numbers of lets can cause problems for neighbours and make it harder for people to find homes to live in.”

Airbnb, one of the world’s leading short-term let platforms, said the move could cost the economy as much as £133 million and 7,000 jobs. It said that most hosts in Scotland were not renting commercially but letting out a spare room to boost income.

“Almost four in ten say that the extra earnings help them to afford the rising cost of living,” Airbnb said. “We want to be a good partner to authorities and collaborate on rules that support local families and protect local communities.”

David Alexander, chief executive of DJ Alexander Scotland, part of the Lomond Group, which is the largest lettings and estate agency in Scotland, said the move would not resolve housing shortages in Edinburgh.

“The varied solutions that are currently being sought by government all miss the point that the reason there is a shortage is because demand is exceeding supply,” he said. “There have been decades of limited social-housing building, which has exacerbated the shortages.”

Fiona Campbell, chief executive of the Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers, said the policy was disproportionate.

Behind the story
When The Times investigated the extent of Airbnb and other short-term lets in 2019, a series of problems emerged (Kieran Andrews writes). More than one in ten city centre properties were being promoted on the site while campaigners and experts warned that safety failings in unregulated holiday rentals raised fire and other risks significantly.

Of a sample of 150 flats checked, more than one in ten did not report a smoke alarm or carbon monoxide detector, and a further third only had a smoke alarm. This came on top of a slew of complaints and exposés about how the neighbours of some rentals were suffering. Andy Wightman, the former Green MSP, campaigned for greater regulation and led a push for change.

Ministers and councillors hope that the groundbreaking changes will reopen Edinburgh to locals and make it easier for families and young professionals to set up, particularly near the city centre.

Estate agents and Airbnb have warned that the changes will not make a substantial difference to the market but will instead leave people deprived of income and the capital appearing less attractive to tourists.

The rest of Scotland will be watching closely. The Highlands — Skye in particular but other tourist spots too — have had problems because locals feel squeezed out by tourist rentals. If a control zone works in the capital, it may be introduced elsewhere.

STL Control Area