The Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers (ASSC) has submitted a response to the proposal to designate The Highland Council’s Ward 10 – Isle of Skye and Raasay – a Planning Control Area, in advance of the Committee Meeting on 1st December.
The self-catering sector is a cornerstone of the Highland economy and a critical enabler of resilient, year-round tourism activity.
Independent analysis by BiGGAR Economics confirms that secondary let self-catering accommodation contributes approximately £200 million annually to the Highland economy and sustains 6,786 local jobs, supporting a wide network of associated businesses including hospitality, retail, food producers, trades, transport providers and visitor attractions.
This economic contribution must be viewed alongside the actual composition of the Highland housing stock. According to ASSC’s October 2024 Freedom of Information submission, there are 10,988 empty, long-term empty and second homes across the Highlands. By comparison, there are 5,974 secondary let ‘conventional’ self-catering units operating as regulated and economically active businesses. This demonstrates that the scale of inactive or under-utilised housing substantially exceeds that of professionally operated self-catering accommodation.
The designation of a Planning Control Area will not address, reduce or repurpose empty or second homes. On the contrary, by disincentivising regulated self-catering use, such a policy is more likely to displace properties into second home ownership or long-term vacancy, thereby exacerbating the very housing distortion it purports to resolve.
It is imperative that The Highland Council publish clear, empirical and outcome-based evidence from the Ward 20 Badenoch and Strathspey Planning Control Area demonstrating that it has delivered measurable improvement in housing availability and has not generated unintended consequences, prior to considering any extension of Planning Control Areas into Skye and Raasay.