With the Scottish Parliament election approaching, the Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers (ASSC) has reviewed early manifesto commitments from key political parties to assess potential implications for Scotland’s self-catering sector and wider tourism economy.
While detailed policy on short-term lets (STLs) remains limited, emerging themes around regulation, taxation, and tourism support provide important insight into the direction of travel.
Reform Scotland was the first party to publish its manifesto. While it contains little direct policy relating specifically to self-catering or tourism, several proposals are of broader relevance.
On short-term lets, the party references the impact of Scottish Government regulation on the private rented sector, suggesting that current policies have discouraged long-term letting and contributed to a shift towards short-term accommodation.
A central proposal is the phased replacement of both Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) and business rates with a new Annual Property Tax over a 10-year period. This would be designed to be revenue-neutral and devolved fully to local authorities. The party has also committed to reversing the April 2026 business rates revaluation.
In tourism, Reform Scotland proposes focusing education and skills investment on key sectors, including hospitality and tourism, and introducing dynamic ferry pricing for large tourist vehicles to support island communities.
Housing policy centres on increasing supply through brownfield development, compulsory purchase of vacant properties, and support for rural self-build initiatives.
The Scottish Conservatives place tourism and small business support more explicitly at the centre of their manifesto.
A key commitment is the introduction of a “Reduction in Red Tape Bill”, which would include a full review of regulatory barriers affecting tourism businesses. This explicitly references concerns around the short-term let licensing regime, the Visitor Levy, and recent business rates revaluations, all of which are cited as having negatively impacted the sector.
On business rates, the party proposes significant structural reform. This includes:
These measures are designed to provide greater certainty for businesses and reduce volatility in operating costs.
Scottish Labour’s manifesto focuses on economic growth, housing delivery and structural reform, with limited direct reference to short-term lets.
On business rates, the party proposes abolishing the current system and replacing it with a new local business levy, designed in partnership with businesses and local authorities. This would be revenue neutral but rebalanced to better support retail and hospitality, incentivise investment and reduce empty properties.
In tourism, Scottish Labour highlights the sector’s growth potential and commits to working in partnership to deliver a national strategy. Proposals include establishing a Major Events Bureau, expanding international air routes, investing in hospitality skills, and strengthening Scotland’s position as a premium food and drink and cultural destination.
On housing, the party commits to planning reform, accelerated decision-making and the delivery of 125,000 new homes by 2031, alongside the creation of a Housing Bank to support development.
The Scottish Greens’ manifesto includes a number of proposals with direct implications for self-catering, short-term lets and second homes, largely centred on taxation and housing policy.
On short-term lets and holiday homes, the party proposes significant increases to the Additional Dwelling Supplement (ADS), including raising it to 10% and introducing further measures such as higher rates for overseas buyers and a “multiplying multiplier” to discourage multiple property ownership. Additional targeted surcharges are also proposed in areas experiencing housing pressure, including National Parks and designated regions.
Housing policy focuses on reducing the number of second homes and holiday lets, with measures to incentivise the sale of such properties and empower communities to bring empty homes back into use. The manifesto also commits to a “Rural Housing Revolution,” including the delivery of new social housing in rural and island communities.
In relation to Non-Domestic Rates, the Greens propose devolving greater powers to local authorities and introducing additional surcharges on businesses deemed to have negative social or environmental impacts, explicitly including short-term lets. The manifesto also suggests removing short-term let operators from eligibility for the Small Business Bonus Scheme.
Tourism proposals include the introduction of new or expanded visitor-related levies, alongside measures to support sustainable tourism, workforce conditions, and environmental goals, including changes to aviation taxation and funding for nature-based tourism initiatives.
At this stage, detailed and targeted policy on short-term lets remains limited across manifestos. However, several important trends are emerging:
We will continue to monitor manifesto developments closely as additional parties publish their commitments. It is essential that any future policy framework is proportionate, evidence-led, and recognises the vital contribution of self-catering to Scotland’s economy, communities, and visitor offering.
We recommend that members engage proactively with local candidates in the coming weeks to ensure the voice of the self-catering sector is clearly understood ahead of the election.
Further updates will follow as more manifesto detail emerges.