The Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers (ASSC), together with the Scottish Tourism Alliance (STA), Scottish Land and Estates, the Federation of Small Businesses and Scottish Agritourism, has written to the Minister for Public Finance to raise urgent concerns about the draft 2026 Non Domestic Rates revaluation and the escalating pressures facing Scotland’s self catering sector.
The joint letter highlights the severity of the situation reported by operators across the country. Early indications suggest that many businesses are facing unprecedented draft increases in Rateable Values, with some experiencing rises of more than 100 percent, with some as high as 300%. Such increases come at a time when operators are already managing significant cumulative pressures, including the removal of the Furnished Holiday Let regime, short-term let licensing costs, planning constraints and broader inflationary pressures across utilities, labour and insurance.
Tourism and hospitality businesses continue to operate in a fragile environment, with recent data from the Scottish Tourism Alliance showing falling profitability, weakening demand and declining confidence. Against this backdrop, concerns around the new valuation methodology for self-catering units have intensified, especially given the limited dataset used to underpin the proposed national model.
Rising draft Rateable Values risk pushing many small and rural operators out of eligibility for the Small Business Bonus Scheme as a result of the scale of the proposed increases. This presents a potential structural shock not only to the accommodation sector but to wider rural and island economies that rely heavily on self-catering to sustain employment, local supply chains and year round community vitality. The letter also notes the heightened mental and emotional strain reported by operators, many of whom describe feeling overwhelmed by the pace and scale of regulatory and financial change.
The organisations are collectively calling for urgent engagement, increased scrutiny of the valuation approach and targeted mitigation measures from the Scottish Government. The letter emphasises that support is needed now to avoid long term damage to Scotland’s tourism competitiveness and the future viability of small businesses that play a vital role across the visitor economy.
The ASSC will continue to work closely with partners across the sector to advocate for a fair, evidence based and proportionate outcome. Members will be kept updated as discussions progress.
The ASSC sought an urgent meeting with Assessors on this matter on 4th December. Read more here.