The Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers (ASSC) has published a new evidence briefing challenging assumptions about the role of self-catering accommodation in Edinburgh’s housing crisis, arguing that future policy should be judged by outcomes rather than intentions.
The briefing acknowledges that housing affordability and availability remain among Edinburgh’s most pressing public policy challenges. However, it argues that these issues are fundamentally structural in nature and cannot be attributed to a sector that represents less than one per cent of the city’s housing stock.
Since 2022, Scotland has introduced one of the most comprehensive regulatory frameworks for short-term lets anywhere in Europe, including mandatory licensing, planning controls and extensive compliance requirements. The ASSC says the important question is no longer whether regulation has been implemented, but whether it has delivered the housing outcomes it was intended to achieve.
The briefing highlights that secondary self-catering accommodation accounts for approximately 0.8% of Edinburgh’s housing stock, while the city has more than 10,000 long-term empty homes. At the same time, the sector contributes around £154 million in Gross Value Added (GVA) and supports approximately 5,580 jobs across the wider visitor economy. A typical two-bedroom self-catering property generates around 3.5 times more economic value than the equivalent residential use.
Rather than viewing self-catering accommodation in isolation, the report argues that it forms part of Edinburgh’s wider accommodation infrastructure, supporting not only leisure visitors but also business travellers, festival audiences, contractors, academics and people requiring temporary accommodation. The economic benefits extend across hospitality, retail, transport, cultural attractions, professional services and local supply chains.
Crucially, the briefing identifies what it describes as a significant evidence gap.
Despite extensive regulation reducing the size of the sector, there remains limited evidence showing what happens to properties that leave short-term letting, whether they become owner-occupied homes, long-term rentals, second homes, remain vacant or move into other uses. Without understanding these outcomes, the ASSC argues, it is impossible to conclude that restricting self-catering accommodation has delivered meaningful improvements in housing supply or affordability.
ASSC Chief Executive Fiona Campbell said:
“No one disputes that Edinburgh faces significant housing challenges. The question is whether current interventions are delivering the outcomes they were designed to achieve.
“Scotland has already implemented one of Europe’s most extensive regulatory regimes for short-term lets. The next stage of policymaking must focus on evaluation. We need to understand what happens after properties leave the sector and whether those changes translate into measurable improvements in housing availability.
“Good policy is not measured simply by the introduction of regulation. It should be measured by evidence that it delivers the outcomes it was intended to achieve. Housing policy should ultimately be judged by the homes it creates, not the visitors it blames.”
The briefing concludes that if policymakers are serious about improving housing outcomes, greater emphasis should be placed on increasing housing supply, accelerating planning delivery, bringing empty homes back into productive use, improving development viability and investing in the infrastructure needed to support new housing. It argues these measures are likely to have a greater impact than further restrictions on a sector that represents a relatively small proportion of Edinburgh’s housing stock while making a significant contribution to the city’s economy.