ASSC Warns Non-Domestic Rates Revaluation Poses an Urgent Threat to Scotland’s Tourism Economy
Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers’ (ASSC) CEO, Fiona Campbell MBE spoke this morning at a Scottish Conservative Party press conference in Edinburgh to highlight the severe and immediate impact of the 2026 Non-Domestic Rates revaluation on Scotland’s self-catering sector and the wider tourism and hospitality industry.
The event marked the launch of the Scottish Conservatives’ campaign to Stop the Business Tax Hikes and brought together senior voices from across tourism and hospitality. The press conference was opened by Russell Findlay MSP, who set out the importance of the campaign and the need for urgent action.
In Fiona’s address on behalf of Scotland’s self-catering sector, she set out the scale of the crisis now facing operators across the country. She explained that the revaluation did not represent normal market movement, but a systemic failure in valuation methodology. The shift away from a receipts and expenditure approach towards one based entirely on rental evidence had produced outcomes that were fundamentally disconnected from how self-catering businesses actually operate.
She highlighted that Scotland does not have an open market rental system for self-catering accommodation, yet draft valuations had been underpinned by evidence from fewer than one percent of ‘rented’ properties on the valuation roll. As a result, businesses were facing average draft rateable value increases of around 120 percent, with some reporting increases of up to 300 percent. These are not manageable adjustments, but existential financial shocks.
Harrowing stories were shared by industry representatives throughout the event. We heard of sleepless nights, acute anxiety and fear for operators livelihoods, with many now questioning whether they could continue trading. For some, the revaluation was described as the final straw after years of cumulative regulatory and cost pressures.
The impact on rural and island communities was a recurring theme. Fiona stressed that self-catering is not peripheral in these areas, but central to local economies, supporting employment, sustaining local services and enabling farm and estate diversification. The new valuation methodology has stripped out seasonality, rurality and viability, assuming levels of demand and profitability that simply do not exist in many parts of Scotland.
Other speakers reinforced the scale of the threat across the wider tourism and hospitality sector. Leon Thompson of the Scottish Tourism Alliance and Stephen Montgomery of the Scottish Hospitality Group both warned that the revaluation risked undermining business confidence, investment and Scotland’s ability to compete as a destination. Rachael Hamilton MSP shared a constituency case study illustrating the real-world consequences for a local business, while Craig Hoy MSP concluded by setting out the broader economic risks if the issue remained unresolved.
Fiona was clear that reliefs cannot be relied upon as a long-term solution. Temporary mitigation measures merely acknowledge that the system itself is broken. What is required is urgent reform of the valuation methodology to ensure it is evidence led, proportionate and grounded in commercial reality.
While Assessors operate independently, Fiona emphasised that ministers are not powerless. There are clear routes for intervention through guidance, transparency, oversight and legislative change. ASSC stands ready to work constructively with government and Assessors to develop a valuation system that commands confidence and delivers fairness.
The press conference underscored that this issue can no longer be treated as a technical or marginal concern. It is a serious and escalating threat to Scotland’s tourism economy, and decisive action is now essential.